LAST JOURNEY TO THE COAST 
up and throw it on to the bank. Several men would 
set up bamboos so as to have nets ready all together, 
and would then arrange little fishing parties. It 
seemed to me that the substance of the web resisted 
water as readily as a duck’s back. 
Waley was also a place for dancing. ‘Thither the 
tribes came for great Terpsichorean festivals, and 
invitations used to be sent as far as Foula by special 
messengers to bid the Foula people to these enter- 
tainments. As we passed Babooni we had met these 
couriers on their way to tell the Foula people about 
a dance that was shortly to be held, and inviting them 
to come and bring all their fine feather-work—the 
Papuan dress-suit—and all their pretty women. ‘These 
dances often last for a week, and the revellers feast 
during the day and at night dance by torch-light. 
During the time we were in camp the noise of dancing 
and singing never ceased, and the fat pigs were 
continually being killed. ‘This indispensable adjunct 
of Papuan life is solemnly divided according to 
ceremonial custom, and certain parts are reserved for 
the leading degrees of the tribesmen. The guests 
receive the more honourable portions, and in this 
instance the chief from Foula would receive the most 
honoured part of all. 
The tribesmen come to the dance fully armed, 
bearing spears 10 feet long, which were often splen- 
didly decorated with birds’ feathers; over the point 
would be slung a pod full of seeds, which rattled as 
the spear was brandished in the dance. 
When we left Waley we pursued a very winding 
path through steep valleys, zig-zaging up the face of 
207 N 
