BY SUTHERLAND SINCLAIR, ' 703 



articles were recovered in time, or the sorcerer killed. One might 

 engage a sacred man to bewitch another against whom he had a 

 grudge, but the sacredness of the exorcist did not prevent his 

 sometimes losing his life in consequence. An instance of this 

 occurred not many years ago on the shores of Dillon's Bay when 

 such a man was shot to prevent his bewitching a person from 

 whom he had taken a piece of sugar cane. 



The people also worshipped the moon, which was symbolised 



by " Navelah " or Sacred Stones. These were cut in the form of 



large rings, and jealousl}^ guarded and kept buried by the sacred 



* men. They were produced at the periodical heathen feasts and 



passed on from tribe to tribe, being joint property. 



These feasts are in themselves comparatively innocent. There 

 is a great expense for food on the part of the chiefs or tribes who 

 are hosts for the time ; a tower of poles fastened to a tall tree is 

 built like a scaffolding, and pigs, yams, &c., are hung on it, some- 

 times in hundreds. The people come and sing, dance and feast ; 

 and if that were all they might be ignored. But it is at these 

 feasts that mischief is planned and often carried out, so the mis- 

 sionaries have necessarily set their faces against them. In 

 heathen times cannibalism accompanied these feasts, but that 

 is now a thing of the past. Cannibalism was not rampant on 

 Erromanga. The chiefs and great men ate their victims, but 

 many a man never tasted human flesh. There are still a few 

 persons alive who were cannibals, but soon it will be entirely a 

 thing of the far past. 



The marriage customs of the Erromangans were intei^esting. 

 Polygamy prevailed, and when a man died his brother inherited 

 his wives. Marriages were not arranged by the people most 

 concerned, but by the tribe. In heathen days the girl was sold, 

 and she was often betrothed in her childhood. If when she grew 

 up she refused to join her husband she could be forced to do so, 

 and if her husband cared to venture he might come and steal her 

 away. Her friends might kill him if he belonged to a hostile 

 tribe, but would not pursue him. Now, when a girl is marriageable, 

 her parents and near relations look out for a husband for her, 



