LIFE IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS. 



481 



the ascent of Mount Vatupusau (4,360 feet high), was situated at 

 the height of 800 feet on the top of a narrow ridge, sloping ab- 

 ruptly down on the eastern and western sides], and was sur- 

 rounded with a stockade about seven feet high, with a narrow open- 

 ing, closed at night, through which we squeezed one by one. In 



Fig. 3.— Sago Palms and Nuts— View on the Bokokimbo River, Guadalcanal. 



weak places, sharpened bamboos were stuck in the ground on the 

 inside of the fence to transfix any one breaking through. Walk- 

 ing into the center of the town, I inquired for the head man, and 

 when he appeared I held out my hand to him, which he took, and 

 then he put his arms round me and embraced me. The settlement 

 consisted of ten or a dozen houses and thirty inhabitants. ... At 

 dusk we were conducted to a perfectly clean new house, with, as 

 usual, the bare ground for floor, and were supplied with cooked 

 yams. After we had finished our meal, the whole town crowded 

 into the house, and my men sang a song, and when they had fin- 

 ished the women of the town sang one of their dismal chants. In 

 the midst of the performance, Sosoni, one of my men, suddenly 

 sprang to his feet, and, after a short speech, presented the chief 



