As we proceeded nearer the coast, we found by the style of hairdressing among the women that we had come into the territory of a different tribe to that amongst whom we had been travelling. Many of the young women had a singular but somewhat elegant style of coiffure. It was done thus: the hair was plaited in very fine braids, and then twisted into thin flat circular coils of from two to two and a half inches in diameter; these were symmetrically arranged, one overlapping the other, in two rows, the upper one completely encircling the head from the forehead to the back of the neck, and the other ending below the ears. These young girls really looked well, for they had the appearance of being well dressed. The women here were more fully clothed than those of the Tanàla; the skirt of fine mat is worn here, but there is more of it, and hemp cloth seems in more common use. The country became flatter, undulating, but with no prominent rising grounds. The vegetation also was quite different from what we had become accustomed to during the last four days. There were no more bamboos, hardly any traveller’s trees, but large numbers of single trees or small clumps of them. These were chiefly the _adàbo_, a species of _Ficus_, a tree with massive smooth trunk and light brown bark; they have a much more rounded and shapely outline than the forest trees, and give the scenery quite an English appearance. But the presence of an occasional fan-palm or cocoanut-palm lifting their tall plumes aloft soon dispelled the illusion. The villages, too, became numerous, and many of them are built five or six together—that is, in lines of as many, only a short distance between them. [Illustration: A FOREST RIVER Immense arums (vìha) are in the foreground, and reflections of Travellers’ trees are seen in the water] We had a curious congregation on the Sunday at one of the two villages where we spoke to the people, of whom a good many collected together. But as heavy showers came on, most of our auditors were standing under the elevated rice-houses (_tràno àmbo_), as we also were. Still we were able to speak a few earnest words to them. Almost in the midst of our speaking, the old chief of the village came up to give us—a bottle of rum! and a fowl. The former of these presents, as well as others of the same kind, were, as soon as darkness set in, carried outside, and poured on the ground as the best way of disposing of their contents. We were glad to find that the Taimòro, among whom we had now come, did not, like the Tanàla, kill children born on unlucky days, but by some ceremonies and offerings avert the evils supposed to be connected with them. [Sidenote: GREAT ARUMS]