426 The National Geographic Magazine 



and eaten by the crew. Everybody is 

 in motion, but it is rather a pantomime 

 than a dance. 



■- I went and had another glorious bath 

 in the Fatoua Pool and came back in 

 time for lunch. 



THE FIRE WALK 



In the afternoon I went over to see 

 preparations for the fire- walking. With- 

 in a hundred yards of the ship a shal- 

 low pit is dug (not apparently oriented 

 to any point of the compass), about 



9 feet by 20 feet by 1 8 inches deep. This 

 is to be filled with firewood, and the 

 stones heaped on the wood. These are 

 smooth, water-worn, volcanic stones of 

 varying size, but all rather large and 

 weighing, at a guess, from 15 to 50 

 pounds. The number of the stones was 

 about 200, and their average length 

 about 15 inches. 



Old Papa-Ita says that a woman who 

 lived there long ago and who died and 

 became a devil (or goddess) is the one 

 to whom he prays and by whose medi- 

 ation he passes unhurt through the fire. 



The aids began to turn the stones over with long green poles, which burned 



at the ends. " 



