work is done on carvings showing
the different species of fish and birds; the drawing is exquisite,
and shows fine feeling for ornamental composition.

The position of women in Santa Cruz is peculiar, although the
Suque does not exist, and therefore no separation of fires is
enforced. Masculine jealousy seems to have reached its climax here, for
no man from another village even dares look at a woman. The women's
houses are a little inland, away from the gamal and separated by
high walls from the outer world. Most of the houses are square, but
there are some circular ones, a type very rare in these regions. To
my regret I was never able to examine one of these round houses,
so that I have no idea how they are built. To enter the women's
quarters, or to approach nearer than 100 metres to any woman, is
a deadly offence, and such breaches of etiquette are the cause of
frequent feuds. Only once I was taken by one of my boys through the
lanes of his village, and this was considered very daring, and the
limit of permissible investigation. However, with the help of Mr. M.,
who was practically a "citizen" of one of the villages, I succeeded
in taking some photographs of women; but only the oldest dowagers and
some sick girls presented themselves, and among them I saw the most
repulsive being I ever met,--an old shrivelled-up hag. At sight of
such a creature one cannot wonder that old women were often accused
of sorcery.

It is surprising how much inferior physically the women of Nitendi
are to the men. The men are among the best made people I ever saw,
while the women are the poorest. The dress of the women consists
of large pieces of tapa, worn around the hips and over the head,
and a third piece is sometimes used as a shawl. Tapa is not made at
Graciosa Bay, but inland; it is often painted in simple but effective
geometrical designs.

The majority of the population lives near the sea; I was credibly
informed that there are hardly any people inland. The Santa Cruzian
is a "salt-water man," and there is a string of villages all along
the coast. The inhabitants of the different villages keep very much to
themselves, and their territories are separated by a strip of forest,
and on the shore by high stone walls leading far out into the sea. On
the whole, the two thousand people in the bay live very quietly,
certainly more so than the same number of whites would without any
police. It is not quite clear in what respect our civil