GENERAL ACCOUNT HEDLEY. 59 



they are usually confined in sties and fed upon waste coconuts. 

 No other Ungulates have been brought to the atoll. 



Dogs were at one time domesticated, the manner of their 

 extermination, told me upon Funafuti, is thus related by Moss : 

 " At Funafuti the Turimen inarch round the village during the 

 night, and quietly steal into the houses to see if all is right. It 

 was found that the house dogs barked and gave notice of their 

 approach, so they forthwith decreed the destruction of all dogs 

 on the island and again became masters of the situation."* This 

 little episode illustrates the severity of the Inquisition which the 

 rule of converts imposes on Polynesia, 



Cats have long been introduced, they are known to the natives 

 by the name of " pussy," and have proved of service in destroying 

 the brown rat, formerly a great pest to the Islands. The 

 European rat and mouse have effected an uninvited entrance to 

 the village, and have multiplied fast. 



The Frigate-bird is tamed in the Ellice Group, and is 

 said to have been used like carrier pigeons (vide Ornithology). 

 .None were kept at Funafuti during the visit of the Expedi- 

 tion, but I saw one in captivity at Nukulailai. On Niutao, 

 "They are fond of taming the frigate-bird (Atagen aquila) or 

 man-of-war bird. A high perch is built near the sea, and the 

 bird secured to it by a long string. The native pastors on most 

 of the islands lying about sixty miles apart of the Ellice 

 Group, correspond with each other by means of the frigate-bird. 

 The note is concealed in a bit of reed and tied to one of the 

 wings. In the olden time pearl fish hooks were in this way sent 

 from one island to another. Its long black feathers were formerly 

 in great request for head dresses."! That this system of taming 

 Frigate-birds prevailed beyond the Ellice and the Gilberts, where 

 Woodford has remarked it, is suggested by an incident related 

 by Webster. Landing in 1851 on Ocean Island or Paanopa, he 

 says, "I was well nigh making an unlucky mistake ; observing 

 a number of large birds at a short distance, I raised my gun to 

 fire at them, but was suddenly checked by my companions, who 

 motioned me not to fire. They turned out to be tame fish hawks 

 belonging to the king ; but for what purpose I am at a loss to 

 determine."! Moss also noticed these birds tamed on Pleasant 

 Island. Probably the habit was a Micronesian custom received 

 with the art of toddy making from the North. The natives of 

 the Solomons delight in portraying this bird in their carvings. || 



* Through Atolls and Islands in the Great South Sea, 1889, p. 118. 



t Gill Jottings from the Pacific, 1885, p. 17. 



J Webster The last Cruise of the Wanderer, Sydney, n.d., p. 43. 



Moss loc. cit., p. 187. 



|| See Brencbley Cruise of the Curagoa, 1873, p. 260. 



