174 EVERYDAY LIFE ON 



" Will burnt and moist clay cohere ? " 

 "A thorn must be extracted by a thorn." 

 " If the somersault fail it is death." 



A few of their proverbs are identical with 

 our own, as for instance : — 4< Where there is 

 smoke there is fire." " Can the blind lead the 

 blind." " Many drops make a great flood," etc., 

 etc. Probably the learned in such matters 

 would tell us that our version is of Eastern 

 origin. 



September 7th. — Yesterday was Rob's 

 birthday. We had a little dinner party to 

 celebrate the occasion. Our servants made a 

 great effort to turn out a creditable dinner, and 

 took infinite pains to decorate the table. It 

 really was lovely. Natives have a perfect 

 genius for decoration. In this case, the cloth 

 was covered with a geometrical pattern formed 

 of petals of bougainvillia (which look red at 

 night) and a bright yellow flower, ferns with 

 pendants of poinsettia petals, whilst here and 

 there at the junction of lines a scarlet hibiscus 

 gave a finish and redness to the design. If no 

 flowers are to be obtained they cut the young 

 fronds of the cocoanut Palm into many shaped 

 geometrical sections and arrange them in 

 patterns on the table. All their decorations 

 are laid flat on the cloth, they seem to have 

 little idea of floral arrangements such as we are 

 accustomed to in England. It was a pleasant 



