n6 THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



save the Queen' in English, the school-children left the~ground 

 dancing. 



Then came the event of the day, the great State meke. The 

 first was the ' Flying Fox Dance.' From the half-hidden roads 

 leading out of the corners of the square came two bands of men 

 dressed in likus (a sort of kilt) of green and coloured banana 

 leaves. These likus were beautifully made, the leaves lying 

 very thick one above another, and reaching below their knees. 

 The men were very fine specimens of humanity; some had 

 their faces blackened or painted black and red, and their heads 

 done up in the most elaborate way with white tappa. Garlands 

 of flowers and leaves hung round their necks, and they had 

 garters and armlets of bright-coloured leaves on their arms and 

 legs. To describe the dance as it deserves to be described, is 

 impossible. There must have been over two hundred men and 

 about sixty children taking part in it. The two parties ap- 

 proached each other in the usual meke form, an odd mixture of 

 march and dance, and after various evolutions, every man 

 threw away the huge palm-leaf fan which he carried in his 

 hand. This was the end of the first act. 



In the next part the flying foxes proceeded to rob a banana- 

 tree. A pole was set up in the middle of the square, and on 

 the top of it a banana plant, with a bunch of artificial fruit 

 made of husked cocoa-nuts full of oil. The two bands ad- 

 vanced, and seemed to consult, and then messengers were sent 

 out from either party, to see, I suppose, that all was safe. 

 They went flying round the square with their arms stretched 

 out, making a noise like a flying fox. With a great deal of 

 dancing the main body approached the tree, and one of them 

 climbed up, whilst the little flying foxes circled round, and 

 finally clustered under the tree, crying with delight at the 

 sight of the fruit. The fox in the tree hung by his legs and 



