phs, then I retire into
the gamal for my supper, during which I am closely observed by the
entire male population. They make remarks about the spoons and the
Worcester sauce, and when I put sugar into my tea, they whisper to each
other, "Salt!" which idea is almost enough to spoil one's appetite,
only the delicious roast sucking-pig is too tempting.

My toilet for the night is watched with the same attention; then, while
I am still reading on my bed, the men seek their couches in the long,
low house. They stir up all the fires, which smoke terribly, then they
lie down on their bamboo beds, my boys among them, and talk and talk
till they fall asleep,--a houseful of leprous and consumptive men,
who cough and groan all night.

In front of me, near the entrance, is the chiefs place. He spends
a long time in preparing his kava, and drinks it noisily. Kava is a
root which is ground with a piece of sharp coral; the fibres are then
mixed with water, which is contained in a long bamboo, and mashed
to a soft pulp; the liquid is then squeezed out, strained through a
piece of cocoa-nut bark into a cocoa-nut bowl and drunk. The liquid
has a muddy, thick appearance, tastes like soapy water, stings like
peppermint and acts as a sleeping-draught. In Santo only chiefs are
allowed to drink kava.

At first, innumerable dogs disturbed my sleep, and towards morning it
grew very cold. When I came out of the hut, the morning sun was just
getting the better of the mist, and spreading a cheery light over the
square, which had looked dismal enough under a grey, rainy sky. I made
all the women gather on the outskirts of the square to be measured
and photographed. They were very bashful, and I almost pitied them,
for the whole male population sat around making cruel remarks about
them; indeed, if it had not been for the chiefs explicit orders, they
would all have run away. They were not a very pleasant spectacle, on
the whole. I was struck by the tired, suffering expression of even the
young girls, a hopeless and uninterested look, in contradiction with
their lively behaviour when unobserved. For they are natural and happy
only when among themselves, and in the presence of the men they feel
that they are under the eye of their master, often a brutal master,
whose property they are. Probably they are hardly conscious of this,
and take their position and destiny as a matter of course; but they
are constrained in the presence of their owners, know