twenty, in Aoba ten. On some islands, Santo,
for example, the caste-system is connected with a severe separation of
the fires; each caste cooks over its own fire, and loses its degree on
eating food cooked on the fire of a lower caste. In these districts the
floor of the gamal is frequently marked by bamboo rods or sticks in as
many divisions as there are castes each containing one fireplace. The
highest castes sit at the front end of the gamal, the lower at the
back; these are forbidden to enter the gamal from the front, in order
not to touch or step over the fireplaces of their superiors. At each
rise in caste the novice receives the new fire, rubbed on a special
stick and decorated with flowers; certain ceremonies attend the cooking
of the first food with this new fire. It is then carefully tended in
the fireplace, and if it goes out it has to be rubbed afresh with the
stick. The number of pigs necessary to a rise in caste also varies
on the different islands. Generally, only tusked pigs are counted,
and there are feasts at which as many as forty of these valuable
animals are killed. Naturally, the high-castes cannot keep all the
animals themselves, but they lend them, like money, to those who do not
possess the number needed to rise in caste; in this way a complicated
credit-system has developed, by which the so-called chiefs support
and strengthen their influence and tyrannize the country.

A young man, as a rule, owns no tusked pigs. If he wishes to raise his
caste, he has to borrow from the rich high-castes, who are very willing
to help him, but only at exorbitant rates of interest. First he has to
win their favour by presents, and then he has to promise to return a
more valuable pig later. The bargain made, the transaction takes place
publicly with some ceremony. The population of the district assembles,
and all the transactions are ratified which have been negotiated in
private. The owner holds the pig, the borrower dances around him and
then takes the animal away. All the spectators serve as witnesses,
and there is no need of a written bill. In this way nearly all the
men of lower rank are in debt to the high-castes, and dependent on
their goodwill, and these can obtain anything they like, simply by
pressing their debtors to pay for their pigs.

As a rule, the highest castes of a district work together; they are
the high priests, who arrange everything connected with the "Suque,"
set the dates for the feasts