192 A CRUISE IN THE LACCx\DIVE SEA 



" Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede," and from the 

 abodes of the living we may go for one moment to 

 the resting-places of the dead, which are kept with 

 great care. Every grave is marked by a headstone 

 of coral rock, nicely carved, and copiously inscribed in 

 the Arabic character. Row upon row, close to the 

 homes in which their simple lives were spent, and 

 beneath the palms that nourished them and that now 

 they in turn nourish, the rude forefathers of the 

 hamlet sleep. With pious labour many of the head- 

 stones are stained a delicate soapstone green with 

 verdigris, which is made by dissolving bits of copper 

 in palm juice that has been allowed to run on through 

 the alcoholic into the vinegar stage of fermentation. 

 But sentiment must always give place to sanitation, 

 and I shall hope that the practice of burying the 

 dead among the living, and so very close to the 

 wells, will soon cease among these clean and virtuous 

 children of the ocean. 



