singular Ideas of another World. 583 



state is under such circumstances exceedingly extraor- 

 dinary. 



Their abode after death they believe to be surrounded by 

 a colossal wall amid a fathomless abyss, in fact a sort of 

 fortress. The only portal into this Elysian abode is guarded 

 by an old woman, whose duty it is to hurl back into the 

 yawning deep the shadows of the departed, who are com- 

 pelled to spring upwards from th-e abyss. Such of the 

 shadows as succeed in eluding the evil spirit and effecting 

 an entrance are for ever happy; on the other hand, those 

 whom the malicious female demon succeeds in precipitating 

 into the abyss sink into the region of endless woe and 

 torture. 



Tlie native festivals, as a rule, take precedence of every 

 other business, no matter how pressing. Every year the 

 king visits the various villages and settlements of those of his 

 tribe, at which period the chief festivities take place, the 

 chiefs vieing with each other in entertaining him. Enor- 

 mous quantities of yam and bread-fruit are on such occasions 

 cooked two days previous, and Kawa is drunk to excess. 



Their dances are far from unbecoming, and are quite 

 free from those lascivious gestures wliich are so often seen at 

 the festivals of the other inhabitants of the South Sea. The 

 dancers are usually unmarried lads and girls, who stand 

 opposite each other in long rows. While keeping time with 

 their feet to the music, they accompany the dance with 

 gi-aceful motions of the arms and upper part of the body. 



