might have thought they were representations of acrobats at work.
I do not think that a faithful likeness of the deceased is attempted; indeed, as the Colymbians all die in advanced life, and the statues always represented them in the pride and prime of manly or womanly beauty, it is impossible that an accurate likeness could be always attained; still it has often happened that the statue was executed at the instance of admiring friends, during the life of the subject, and when he was at the height of his beauty. In such cases a fair likeness might be obtained; but in all cases the sculptor idealized his model, and attempted to improve on the graces with which nature had endowed him. These statues, though executed during life, are never erected in public places until after death, as it is a maxim among the Colymbians that it can be predicated of no man that he is worthy of a monument until he is dead.
Other memorial monuments they have in abundance. Elaborate architectural structures, built mostly of various coloured glass and precious stones, whose transparency and brilliant colours are much enhanced by being in contact with the pure crystalline water of the lagoon, and which form beautiful objects amid the generally dazzling white coral edifices around.
One of these structures particularly impressed me. It was in the form of a kind of open temple or shrine. It stood on a sort of pedestal or platform, of smooth dome-like shape, formed of various coloured marbles, arranged in a simple but graceful pattern. On the apex of this dome stood the shrine. The base of it was of a simple circular form, deriving its chief beauty
