A VISIT TO THE SOLOMON ISLANDS 109 



" December 17. Went through the village again 

 this morning and found that in three instances 

 several married couples and their children were living 

 indiscriminately in the same house, and that this had 

 caused trouble and scandal. Ordered those who had 

 no houses (they were really too lazy to build them) 

 to set about building houses for themselves imme- 

 diately. A young male native came to me and 

 complained that a certain man in the village was 

 keeping a young girl as a slave and would not allow 

 her to marry. Inquired into the matter and dis- 

 covered that what the boy said was quite correct. 

 This man had an extensive garden and kept the girl 

 simply as a drudge, and would not allow any one to 

 approach her on the question of marriage. One 

 suitor, more courageous than the others, went and 

 spoke to the girl, and the guardian gave him a thrash- 

 ing for his trouble. I called the girl up and found that 

 she was a young woman of about 28 years of age. 

 She informed me that she wished many times to get 

 married, but her relative would not allow her to do 

 so. I ordered the relative to place no further hin- 

 drance in the way of the young woman getting a 

 husband, and announced to the village chiefs that 

 the girl was now eligible for marriage, and if any 

 young man desired her, and such feeling was recipro- 

 cated on the part of the young woman, that nothing 

 was to occur to prevent the marriage. The poor 

 girl was most grateful and happy at the announce- 



