192 
Wild Life in Southern Seas. 
children gather in the house, and decorously 
seat themselves round the sides. One of our 
carriers is the young Amazonian who made the 
pleasant remark anent the “ red bread-fruit ” at 
Gafalua’s village. She looks at her Pese Viiga 
(hymn-book), and says “ Pese lua sefulu ”— 
hymn 20—and then her clear bird-like notes 
lead the singing. 
“ Well, they certainly can sing,” says the 
doctor, as the melodious voices of the women 
blend with the deeper tones of our stalwart car¬ 
riers in a translation of “ The Living Fountain.” 
The singing ceases, and then one of the carriers, 
a big, burly, black-bearded fellow, bends his head 
and utters a short prayer. The demeanour of 
these simple natives was a revelation to the 
doctor ; and at the conclusion of the short 
service he asked them to show him some of their 
books. They brought him great, heavily-bound 
translations of the Old and New Testament, 
hymn-books, and others of a devotional cha¬ 
racter ; published in London by the British and 
Foreign Bible Society ; and, indeed, the doctor 
admitted that the knowledge displayed by some 
of the women made him “ feel rather down 
in Scripture history.” 
