36 . SIGNS OF CULTIVATION. 



hut is usually situated in a small well-feuced en- 

 closure^ and opposite to it on the beach is the cooking 

 place, consisting" of a small shed, under which the 

 fire is made. We saw indications of many turtle 

 having* lately been cooked here upon a framework 

 of sticks over a small fire, precisely as is practised 

 by the natives of New Guinea and the Louisiade 

 Archipelag'o. 



The strip of forest behind the villng^e is traversed 

 in every direction by well beaten paths, chiefly 

 leading- to the back part of the island, where, on the 

 slope of a hill in g'ood soil, we found man}^ patches 

 of rude cultivation. Tlie chief plant is a broad- 

 leaved species of yam, trained upon tall poles kept 

 in position b}^ cross bamboos, forming- a framework 

 divided into little squares, each of which contains a 

 plant. A species of Calladium with an esculent 

 root is also much cultivated ; it is planted in regular 

 rows with the earth heaped up in ridg-es, as in a 

 potato or turnip field at home. I noticed some 

 small plots of g-round prepared with more than 

 usual care for the g-rowth of Avhat Gi'om told me 

 was an herb used as tobacco j the young" plants 

 were protected from the sun wdtli pieces of matting*. 



Not far from the villag*e, under the shade of an 

 ag*ed mimusops tree on the outskirts of the wood, 

 we observed a cleared oval space where ten human 

 skulls — of former members of the tribe, as we were 

 informed- were arrang'ed upon a plank raised on 

 stones a foot or so from the o-round. The skulls 



