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This explains the all-important position of the "Suque" in the life of the natives, being the expression both of religion and of ambition. Frequently a young boy will join the "Suque," an uncle on the mother's side donating pigs to be sacrificed in his name after he has touched them with his hand. The boy is then free of the gamal, the "Suque" club-house.
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, and decide whether a man shall be permitted to raise his caste. They are practically omnipotent, until one of them rises by still larger sacrifices to a still higher caste, and becomes sole master.
It is the only means to assure oneself of bliss hereafter, and to obtain power and wealth on earth, and whoever fails to join the "Suque" is an outcast, a man of no importance, without friends and without protectors, whether living men or spirits, and therefore exposed to every ill-treatment and utter contempt.
As each of these clubs has its own house, we sometimes find quite a number of such huts in one village, where they take the place of gamals. Each Suque high caste has his own house, which the low castes may not enter. The caste of the proprietor may be seen by the material of which the hedge is made, the lower castes having hedges of wood and logs, the highest, walls of stone and coral slabs.
For a week all the village talked of nothing but the white madman who dug up bones; I became a celebrity, and people made excursions from a distance to come and stare at me. Although the Suque is highly developed here, there are other secret societies whose importance, however, is decreasing, as they are being more or less absorbed by the Suque.
Its origin probably goes back to one of those secret societies so highly developed in Melanesia, of which I shall speak later. Caste is obtained by sacrificing tusked pigs; it is possible that this has taken the place of former human sacrifices. The "Suque" is the community of all the men who have sacrificed tusked pigs.
No one can change his clan. Children do not belong to the clan of the father, but to that of the mother, and property cannot be alienated from the clan. The father has no rights over his children, and the head of the family is not the father, but the eldest brother of the mother, who educates the boys and helps them along in the Suque.
Missionaries are the men to unite these qualities, but, unfortunately, the missionaries of the New Hebrides do not seem to take much interest in the strange cult so highly developed here; so that, for want of something better, my own observations may be acceptable. The pig-cult, or "Suque," is found almost all over Melanesia.
There is another independent witchcraft beside the "Suque," for weather-making, charms and poisoning, which is known to private men. They take expensive "lessons" from old sorcerers, and transmit their art to the young men they consider clever enough, for good wages. These are the real mischief-makers, for they will lend their murderous assistance to anyone for adequate payment.
This state of things was greatly to the advantage of the missions, as the chiefs, even if converted, retained their authority, whereas in the north the high castes, on their conversion, lost all influence and position, as these only depended on the Suque.
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