PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION E. 533 



night. One poor widow was carefully and tenderly sweeping the sand 

 over her late husband's grave. Some of the large slabs were in the 

 shape of a cross. On one of these places there was a rudely carved 

 figure. In the cemetery of the chief's family a number of women were 

 sitting over the grave in which his deceased wife had been lately buried, 

 and for whom the chief was still in deep mourning. I noticed a small 

 post in front of one of the houses in the village, and was told that this 

 was in loving memory of a boy who had died. His body was buried 

 in the cemetery, but his memorial was placed just in front of the house 

 door to remind them of the loved one who had been taken away. The 

 chief, Uila, was, as I have stated, in mourning for one of his wives, and 

 during that time he was not allowed to expose himself to the sunUght, but 

 was supposed only to go out of the house after dark. I was, however, 

 very anxious to obtain a photograph of him, and he apparently was 

 very desirous of having it taken. When I suggested the matter to him 

 he was quite willing, provided I took it inside the house ; but I told 

 him that I could not do so. After some discussion he was persuaded 

 to come to the doorstep and sit there, but as I saw he was very uneasy 

 I took off my hat and put it on his head as a kind of protection, and 

 with this he was quite satisfied. I sent an enlargement of this to the 

 island on my return, and it arrived there a short time after his decease. 

 It was, however, very highly valued, and there was nearly a fight 

 amongst the people as to who should possess it. I find from some notes 

 by C. M. Woodford, Esq., the Resident British Commissioner in the 

 Solomons Group, that " the tombstone over the grave of the chief Uila 

 is about 12ft. high and 3ft. or 4ft. wide, and his widows, although he 

 has been dead for more than two years, are still living in the neighbor- 

 hood of the graveyard and sweep the grave carefully every day." 



We left Le ua Niua at 11-30 a.m. on June 22nd, with a fine S.S.E. 

 wind, and had a fine run down to Pelau, about 33 miles distant. 



The size of this immense atoll became more and more apparent as 

 we sailed down it hour after hour without being able to see the encircling 

 reef on either side, except when some shallow patches necessitated our 

 going near one side or the other. We passed many small islands and 

 islets, some of them in the middle of the lagoon surrounded by deep 

 blue water and others situated almost on the reef. We sailed for a long 

 time close to the north-western side, which consisted of a long barrier 

 reef with only one small opening. The islets were all marked by the pro- 

 truding tongue of white sand, showing that the surf which beat so near 

 them and the tidal currents were continually increasing their size. 

 Some of them which were separate then will, I think, be joined together 

 at no very distant date, as the process of growth is continually going 

 •on. We anchored at Pelau at about 5 p.m. We were then still some 

 <iistance away from the end of the atoll, which, I am inclined to think, 

 is the largest true atoll in the world. I was able to get a good deal of 

 information in the comparatively short time in which we were in the 

 group owing to the fact that I found amongst the natives two or three 

 who had lived some years in one or other of the Polynesian groups, and 

 fiad acquired the knowledge of languages with which I was familiar. 



