XII THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN 163 
The next night the women danced, and the men 
went through all the manoeuvres of sailing, with miniature 
boats set in full rig in their hands, singing the whole 
time. Then the South Sea Islanders danced, gesticu- 
lating very much the whole time, and singing part 
songs, the same words over and over again. It was 
quaint and ‘musical, and we asked them the meaning 
of it ; they did not know : “ Long time ago same as 
belonga great-grandfather,” was all they said. 
Here it is the woman’s privilege to propose to the 
man, and it is generally after these dances that she 
does it by first making a present to him or to his father 
and mother ; if it is accepted the thing is settled. The 
men really are splendid-looking fellows in their native 
clothes ; and so muscular and strongly made, that they 
danced as if on wires, so light and active were they. 
One day before leaving, we rowed to the end of the 
island in one of their dug-out canoes. Landing, we made 
our way through a bit of wild tropical jungle, so dense 
above our heads with a tangled, matted mass of creeping 
plants that hardly a ray of sunlight peered through. 
Here we soon found ourselves on the edge of a strong 
spring, and, before we knew where we were, we were 
ankle-deep in mud. High up in the fork of a tree above 
us we saw the thick coil of a carpet snake lying asleep. 
He never stirred, notwithstanding the incessant 
chattering of the natives under him. From here on I 
walked with extreme caution, in anticipation of other 
smaller and more venomous snakes below. 
Then we came into a steep, rugged gully with fern 
trees high above one’s head, and here and there, on a 
more level slope of ground, small, cultivated patches of 
kumeras and taros (native potatoes). As we came 
into open ground again, there were two magnificent coral- 
trees (erythrina) in full blossom, with masses of salmon- 
