PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION E. 531 



rain or good winds, or perform any other of the numerous tunctions 

 which are required of a priest in this group. I found that I was 

 evidently regarded as Mr. Mahaffy's priest, and so enjoyed a little 

 prominence on that account. The sacred enclosure, so far as we could 

 see, was merely a part of the house marked ofi by plaited cocoanut 

 leaves and with a few small heaps of nuts placed about it. The natives 

 were of a light cofJee color, not much darker, if any, than the Samoans 

 and Tongans. The men and women were tattooed, though the young 

 unmarried ones had either not got any tattooing or only small bits of it 

 done. I think the complete pattern was only finished after marriage. 

 The name of the chief of this island was Kei. On another village 

 I found that the name of the chief was Uo, and this was very 

 familiar indeed to me, as the name of a powerful chief in Luiilufi, in the 

 Samoa Group, called Moe-faa-Uo, which was generally contracted to Uo. 



The language, as will be seen from the appendix, was very similar 

 indeed to that of the Samoans. The " f " is changed into the aspirate 

 ■'' h," and in many instances the " 1 " into " r." The number of words in 

 each language which are precisely the same is too great to particularise. 

 It would need a regular vocabulary. The Samoan who accompanied 

 me gave the natives a specimen of a Samoan ailao, or club dance, which 

 pleased them all very much indeed. 



On June 19th we left Keila at 11-30 a.m., and had still the same 

 Tough squally weather. We managed to beat up a few miles, and then 

 had to anchor to leeward of another island. It seemed very strange to 

 have such rough weather inside the lagoon. We had some very fierce 

 squalls during the night, and altogether the weather was described by 

 some of us as being simply disgusting. On June 20th we got away 

 early in the morning under reefed sails, and had to beat up the lagoon, 

 until at last, to our great satisfaction, we let go the anchor in front of 

 the main village — Le ua Niua. The chief of the place — Uila, since dead 

 — seemed to be also chief paramount of the principal part of the lagoon. 

 We landed soon afterwards, and found a large village and crowds of 

 excitable natives, who were, however, all very nice and pleasant. We 

 first called on the chief, Uila, and found him to be a typical 

 Polynesian chief — very dignified and polite. He had evidently 

 great influence amongst the people, and occupied a position very 

 different to that which is occupied by most of the Melanesian chiefs 

 whom I have known. After leaving the house we walked across the 

 island, which, as usual on these reef islands, was very narrow, probably 

 not exceeding a quarter of a mile in any part. The surf was very high, 

 and it was very evident that there was still a heavy sea running. 



I have now to describe two customs which were entirely new 

 to me. I have been connected with the South Sea Islands for more 

 than 46 years, during which time I have either resided in or repeatedly 

 visited the principal Polvnesian and Melanesian groups. Had I been 

 asked the question whether there were any idolators in any of these 

 groups I should certainly have answered in the negative, as I should 

 also have done had I been asked if the natives in any of those islands 

 were accustomed to bury their dead in large general cemeteries, and in 



