There were about sixty houses in all, and a really fine church and school. This last we visited and heard the children sing. They gave not at all a bad performance for coast natives, to whose discordant tones I have already alluded, and if my good friends, the mountain people, with their beautiful voices and their fine idea of music, had had the same training, the effect would have been little short of charming. We saw the place at a slight disadvantage, for the drought had greatly withered the vegetation, and Dr. Laws’ fine orange trees were all dead. The natives, I was glad to see, wore their ordinary dress, and no ridiculous attempt had been made to thrust them into European clothes. Dr. Laws did everything in his power to render our visit pleasant, and to him and his wife we are indebted for much kind hospitality. There is much that is enviable in his pleasant dwelling-place, and he seems to be on excellent terms with the natives. As I have elsewhere had occasion to remark, it is doubtful whether this generation of Papuans is capable of much spiritual enlightenment at the missionary’s hands, but the seeds of industrial progress at any rate are being sown, and the order and apparent prosperity of Kappa-Kappa say much for the work of the pioneer. There is no Paradise, however, without its serpent, and the scourge of Kappa-Kappa is the black snake, which attacks the natives. The poison is most virulent, and Dr. Laws told me that if he could see the sufferer immediately he could save him, but if only a few minutes elapse before help is available death must inevitably ensue within an hour. This snake also kills the missionary’s horses, which it invariably bites on the instep. He keeps the horses for his little trap, in which, at the close of our visit, he drove us down to the coast, a distance of about four miles. Besides the things I have mentioned, we found little else to interest us in Hula, and after a short stay we set off to walk round Hood’s Bay to Kalo, the next village of any importance, situated a little way from the coast. On the way we passed the little village of Babacca, the headquarters of a copra trader called Joher. Formerly Kalo was the centre of strange ceremonial dances, connected with the worship of the reproductive powers of Nature. Initiatory rites were celebrated, and the orgies taken part in by the young men and women were often of the most indecorous character. By the decree of a paternal Government these celebrations have now ceased to exist. It is possible that they were accompanied by cannibalism, but I am not aware that there is any proof of this. Descriptions are extant, but it is doubtful whether these have been given at first hand, for the natives would certainly not have admitted visitors to their mysteries.