Archipelago.

SIGNS OF CULTIVATION.

The strip of forest behind the village is traversed in every direction by
well beaten paths, chiefly leading to the back part of the island, where,
on the slope of a hill in good soil, we found many patches of rude
cultivation. The chief plant is a broad-leaved species of yam, trained
upon tall poles kept in position by cross bamboos, forming a framework
divided into little squares, each of which contains a plant. A species of
Calladium with an esculent root is also much cultivated; it is planted in
regular rows with the earth heaped up in ridges, as in a potato or turnip
field at home. I noticed some small plots of ground prepared with more
than usual care for the growth of what Giaom told me was a herb used as
tobacco; the young plants were protected from the sun with pieces of
matting.

COLLECTION OF HUMAN SKULLS.

Not far from the village, under the shade of an aged mimusops tree on the
outskirts of the wood, we observed a cleared oval space where ten human
skulls--of former members of the tribe, as we were informed--were
arranged upon a plank raised on stones a foot or so from the ground. The
skulls were mostly old and weather-worn, and some of them had pandanus
seeds stuck in the orbits by way of eyes. In front was a large smooth
stone painted red and black, and partially embedded in the earth, and
beside it were some painted human leg and arm bones, shells and other
ornaments. Behind, some thirty or forty skulls of turtle were arranged on
the ground in several rows forming a triangle.