36 SIGNS OF CULTIVATION. 



hut is usually situated in a small well-fenced en- 

 closure, and opposite to it on the beach is the cooking 

 place, consisting- of a small shed, under which the 

 fire is made. We saw indications of many turtle 

 having' lately been cooked here upon a fi-amework 

 of sticks over a small fire, precisely as is practised 

 by the natives of New Guinea and the Louisiade 

 Archipelag-o. 



The strip of forest behind the viUag^e is traversed 

 in every direction by well beaten paths, chiefly 

 leading- to the back part of the island, where, on the 

 slope of a hill in g-ood soil, we found many patches 

 of rude cultivation. The chief plant is a broad- 

 leaved species of yam, trained upon tall poles kept 

 in position by cross bamboos, forming- a framework 

 divided into little squares, each of which contains a 

 plant. A species of Calladium with an esculent 

 root is also much cultivated ; it is planted in regTilar 

 rows with the earth heaped up in ridg-es, as in a 

 potato or turnip field at home. I noticed some 

 small plots of ground prepared with more than 

 usual care for the g-rowth of what Gi'om told me 

 was an herb used as tobacco ; the young- plants 

 were protected fi'om the sun with pieces of matting-. 



Not far from the village, under the shade of an 

 aged mimusops tree on the outskirts of the wood, 

 we observed a cleared oval space where ten human 

 skulls— of former members of the tribe, as we were 

 informed- -were arranged upon a plank raised on 

 stones a foot or so from the ground. The skulls 



