COLLECTION OF HUMAN SKULLS. 37 



were mostly old and weather-worn, and some of 

 them had pandanus seeds stuck in the orbits by way 

 of eyes. In front was a lar^e smooth stone painted 

 red and black, and partially imbedded in the earth, 

 and beside it were some painted human leg- and arm 

 bones, sheUs and other ornaments. Behind, some 

 thirty or forty skulls of turtle were arranged on the 

 ground in several rows forming a triangle. 



In a beautiful opening among the trees behind 

 the village we saw an extraordinary screen — named 

 wows — the purpose of which, so far as we could 

 understand, had some connexion with the memory 

 of the dead. It extended fifty-six feet in length, 

 with a shght outward curvature, and measured five 

 feet and a half in height. It was formed of a row 

 of poles stuck in the ground, crossed in front by 

 three horizontal strips of bamboo, and covered with 

 cross lattice work. The bars of the screen were 

 daubed over with red paint, and hung* with rows of 

 spider shells also painted red. Some poles project- 

 ing' above the others two to four feet had painted 

 jaws of the dugong and larg-e conch shells {Fusus 

 proboscidiferus) fixed to the top, and numerous other 

 dugong bones and shells were scattered along the 

 front. On the ground along the foot of the screen 

 was a row of stones painted with black and red in 

 imitation of grotesque faces, and to several of these 

 the old man who acted as cicerone attached the 

 names of persons who were dead. In some the 

 painting was comparatively recent, and the stones 



