draw the body of their friend from the position in which it was held immovable. Disconsolately they sailed away, lamenting their beloved chief and brother; filling the air with their mournful songs as they approached his home, and awaking other lamentations in answer from those to whom they had to bear their story of disaster. At the next low tide they returned to the calamitous locality and managed to withdraw the body of Eda, their cries of grief breaking forth afresh over the drowned body. But, to their surprise, the supposed corpse opened its eyes and told them that he had been taken by the spirit into a cave and instructed that he must have a season of sacredness after his return to the world, and then, having built a large vessel by lashing several canoes together, must sail away to the westward. If he did this he would learn how to procure the food necessary for his people when the hungry north-west monsoon season brought dearth.
Eda having told this story at his own settlement he became sacred for a time, and was set apart from the others until the priests considered that he was purified sufficiently to set out on his voyage. Many tried to dissuade him, saying “We have plenty of yams now; yams have been the food of our forefathers
