[Illustration 50: CHIEF’S HOUSE, AMBRYN, NEW HEBRIDES Round these houses are dry-built stone or coral walls. I saw more huts on this island encompassed in this way than on any other. The large shell hanging from the pole is a sign of a tapu.] {151} The usual custom of natives to build near a fresh-water stream is not carried out in the New Hebrides; they seem to object to fresh water and seldom, if ever, drink it. Occasionally they bathe in the sea; but here again they show a marked difference to the other islanders, for they seldom swim except when necessity compels them to do so, and so averse are they to water that they will actually walk an extra half-mile to avoid having to wade or swim through a creek. The sanitary arrangements of the village are, of course, conspicuous by their absence, and were it not for the crowd of dogs, pigs, and fowls, no visitor could go near them. The work of the missionaries, however, has done much to improve the home life of the natives, and in many villages their influence shows itself in the better construction of the houses and the greater neatness of the villagers; and much as the searcher after “original conditions” might object to these improvements, he must declare that from an artistic point of view, if from no other, these villages surpass those where the missionaries have not been able to make headway. The blending of savage ideas and European {152} methods makes a quaint and interesting picture. A thatched squat native house with a neat coral path is infinitely better than the muddy, sloppy places of the past, and a hut where one can see when inside it, and where one is not blinded by the smoking fire, is surely much better than one in its native condition, smoke-begrimed and smelling, however natural its former condition was. The tambu houses are more carefully constructed here, and are thatched with banana leaves. They are of course much bigger than the living houses, and are to be seen close to the dancing grounds in each place. In them are kept all the accessories to the dances, for dancing plays a more important part in the life of the New Hebridean than it does elsewhere, and very elaborate grounds, houses, and regalias are used. But this side of the life we will leave for another chapter, as to understand it a further insight into their other ceremonies is necessary. {153} CHAPTER XV Ancestor worship the religion of the New Hebrides—Temples and strange figures, and some sacred dances.