At
one stage of the proceedings the girls are sent to take some food to
the neighbours as a present. When everyone has finished, Agelan lies
down for a siesta, while his wife lights a pipe and squats in silent
happiness near the fire. The girls play with the dirty little boy,
and the son plucks his tiny pigeon and a flying-fox; singeing the
creature's fur off occasions such an evil smell that I prefer to take
my leave. Mrs. Agelan smiles her farewell, the girls giggle, and when
I have gone some distance I hear Agelan, awakened from his siesta,
roar a sleepy good-bye after me.

CHAPTER XIV

LOLOWAY--MALO--THE BANKS ISLANDS

Having traversed the western part of the island, I sailed to
Loloway, near the eastern point, one of the loveliest spots in the
archipelago. Lofty cliffs flank two sides of a round bay; at the
entrance a barrier-reef breaks the swell, which glides in a soft
undulation over the quiet water, splashing up on the sandy beach. All
around is the forest, hanging in shadowy bowers over the water,
and hardly a breeze is astir. The white whale-boat of the Anglican
missionary floats motionless on the green mirror; sometimes a fish
leaps up, or a pigeon calls from the woods. In the curve of the
bay the shore rises in two terraces; on the lower lies the Anglican
missionary's house, just opposite the entrance. In the evening the sun
sets between the cliffs, and pours a stream of the purest gold through
the narrow gap. It is a pity this fairy spot is so rarely inhabited;
Melanesian missionaries are not often at home, being constantly on
the road, or at work in the native villages. Mr. G., too, was on the
point of departure, and agreed to take me with him on his trip.

In his alarmingly leaky boat we sailed westward, two boys baling all
the time. We ran into a small anchorage, pulled the boat ashore, and
marched off inland. The people I found here were similar to those in
the west, except that they had developed certain arts to a greater
degree of perfection, particularly mat-braiding and tattooing. The
braiding is done by a method very similar to that in vogue on
Pentecoste. The tattooing is mostly done by women and on women;
but the men, especially the high castes, often have a beautifully
designed sicca leaf running from the chest towards one shoulder,
which probably has some religious significance. The women often have
their whole body, arms and legs, covered with tattooing, as if with
fine lace.