290 
Wild Life in Southern Seas. 
the yelping of the teacher’s dogs, and the 
grunting and squealing of the scores of pigs 
that lay basking in the sunshine of the narrow 
road, he trotted along over the crunching 
pebbles till the “ street ” of Avatele was left 
behind. Then, once his tender feet felt the 
soft red soil beyond, he cantered gaily along 
till the first obstruction was reached, a high 
fence of coconut logs, erected across the road 
to prevent the village pigs wandering into the 
bush. The sound of the horse’s feet brought 
a rush of people to the narrow gate. They 
fought and swore violently at each other as to 
who should open the gate for the white man. 
How good of them. Alas ! no. They charge 
for politeness in Niue. A stick of vile, strong¬ 
smelling tobacco is the fee for opening any 
gate. If you have not got it with you, you 
will have to give them a written I O U for it. 
Most likely the bearer of the order will give 
it to a friend who has a bruised finger or a 
cut foot, who will swear you out that he was 
the man who opened the gate, and that in so 
doing a log fell on his hand, or the horse trod 
on his foot and cut it, and demand another 
stick of tobacco for compensation. 
