THE SOUTHEAST llONSOOrN-^ AT ITS HEIGHT. KJl 



tlierefore veiy liglit and durable. The most common 

 shell there is the little cyjyi^cea capiit-serpentis^ or 

 " serpent's ■ head cowrj^," which has a close resem- 

 blance, both in form and color, to the head of a 

 snake. 



From Lariki the opziener accompanied me to the 

 neighboring h:im])onrj of Wakasilm. Our narrow 

 footpath wound along the side of a rugged, project- 

 ing crag, and the view from the outer point was 

 very imposing. The stormy monsoon was at its 

 height. The heavy swell rolling in from the open 

 ocean broke and iiung its white spray and clotted 

 foam far and wide over the black rocks left bare by 

 the ebbing tide. Tliick clouds, hea^dly fi'eighted 

 with rain, were driven by the strong wind against 

 the rugged coast and adjoining mountains. The 

 cocoa-nut palms that grew just above high- water 

 level, and leaned over toward the sea, twisted and 

 shook their plumy crests in a continual strife with 

 the angry storm, and above them the branches of 

 great evergreens moaned and piped as they lashed to 

 and fro in the fitful gusts of the tempests. 



At Wakasiliu the old white-bearded rajah, hear 

 ing of our approach, came out to welcome us. The 

 opziener explained to him the object of my coming, 

 and immediately he ordered a large tifa^ that hung 

 under an adjoining shed, to be beaten, as a warning 

 to his people that their rajah required them all to 

 assemble at once before his house. The news quickly 

 spread that a foreigner had come to purchase shells, 

 and the old men, young men, women, and children 

 all came with the treasures that had been accumulat- 

 11 



