PR0GEES8 OF TEE "HUMPBACK" SEASON. 271 



pean of praise, " God, our help in ages past," No 

 elaborate ceremonial in towering cathedral could begin 

 to compare with the massive simplicity of poor Abner's 

 funeral honours, the stately hills for many miles re- 

 iterating the sweet sounds, and carrying them to the 

 farthest confines of the group. 



Next day was Sunday, and, in pursuance of a promise 

 given some time before, I went ashore to my " flem's " 

 to dinner, he being confined to the house with a hurt 

 leg. It was not by any means a festive gathering, for 

 he was more than commonly taciturn ; his daughter 

 Irene, a buxom lassie of fourteen, who waited on us, 

 appeared to be dumb ; and his wife was "in the straw." 

 These trifling drawbacks, however, in nowise detracted 

 from the hospitality offered. The dining-room was a 

 large apartment furnished with leaves, the uprights of 

 cocoa-nut tree, the walls and roof of pandanus leaf. 

 Beneath the heaps of leaves, fresh and sweet-scented, 

 was the earth. The inner apartment, or chamber of 

 state, had a flooring of highly-polished planks, and con- 

 tained, I presume, the household gods ; but as it was in 

 possession of my host's secluded spouse, I did not enter. 



A couch upon a pile of leaves was hastily arranged, 

 upon which I was bidden to seat myself, while a freshly- 

 cut cocoa-nut of enormous size was handed to me, the 

 soft top sliced off so that I might drink its deliciously 

 cool contents. These nuts must grow elsewhere, but I 

 have never before or since seen any so large. "When 

 green — that is, before the meat has hardened into in- 

 digestible matter — they contain from three pints to two 

 quarts of liquid, at once nourishing, refreshing, and 

 palatable. The natives appeared to drink nothing else, 

 and I never saw a drop of fresh water ashore during 

 our stay. 



