The Man Was A Stupid Looking Oaf, And Seemed Too Dazed To Speak.
The
woman, however, if she had been washed, would have been quite
good-looking.
She had rather the European type of features, and was
quite talkative. She told us that most of her people had gone off
to fight a mountain tribe, who had threatened to swoop down on this
village. These complications were getting exceedingly Gilbertian in
character. To begin with, the Kaili-kaili and Arifamu carriers were
afraid of the Okeinas, who in their turn were afraid of the Notus;
the Notus feared this Dobodura tribe we were fighting, and the
Doboduras seemed to be in fear of a mountain tribe. We ourselves
were by no means sure of the Notus, and kept on guard in case of
treachery. These tribes, we heard, were nearly always fighting,
and always have their scouts out.
To return to the prisoners. We showed them how a bullet could
pass clean through a coconut tree, and they seemed to be greatly
impressed. They were then told to tell their chief to come over the
next morning and interview us, and that we wished to be friendly. We
then gave them some tobacco and told them they could go, and it
was evident that they were astonished beyond words at their good
fortune. As they passed through our police and carriers, I feel sure
that they suspected us of some trick on them.
A bathe in the cool, clear river close by was delightful after a very
hard day, but we, of course, had an armed guard of police around us,
and practically bathed rifle in hand, as the growth was dense on the
opposite bank.
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