i62 SOMERSET chap 
anotlier at eleven, and another in the afternoon, ending 
up with Sunday school for the children, who varied the 
entertainment by singing, *' And this is the way we wash 
our hands,** etc., and other kindergarten songs. They 
are a very happy race, but Mr. Bruce says by no means 
an amiable one, and they cannot be depended upon. 
We came in for the tail end of their great annual feast, 
when they invite the natives from the other end <^ 
the island to their fair, which lasts six or seven weeks. 
During the best season for yams and fruit they fashion 
the form o( a ship, or house, with bamboos (on this 
occasion it was a representation of the Albatross^ our 
own steam launch), and then cover the framework with 
every kind of fruit and yams. In the centre of their ship 
were the engines, which consisted of the fire where they 
did their cooking. Next year the feast will be returned 
by their neighbours, and so on. 
There were four marriages the first afternoon we 
were there, Mr. Savage, the Chief Inspector of Police, 
who was with us, officiating as clergyman. One man 
cried hard the whole time because (his bride told us) 
he loved her too much. At seven in the evening they 
commenced their native dance, which they kept up until 
3 A.M. ; it was the best I had seen and quite different 
from the mainland corroboree, only the men danced 
on this occasion ; they wore head - dresses like 
cocked hats, made out of white feathers, reed mats and 
coloured cloths round their waists, with anklets and 
armlets of flowers, and big bunches of croton leaves on 
their belts behind ; most of them carried short clubs 
and carved spears in their hands. The women and 
those who did not take part in the dance sang and 
beat drums, while the others danced different figures 
representing fish - spearing, shooting with bows and 
arrows, and other sports. 
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