An Old
Chief Then Said They Had Given Me Their Arms.
Next they placed cloth,
fishing nets and spears and other native ornaments inside the circle,
and the same old chief said they had given me their property.
After
this ten pigs, five male and five female, were brought and placed
inside the ring with a quantity of sago and a little other food. Then
followed cooking vessels full of cooked food. The old chief then said,
'We have given you all we have as a sign we are now the people of the
Government.' I gave them a good return present, and told them that
they were at liberty to take any articles they wanted or their pigs
back again, but this they absolutely refused to do, saying that it
would destroy the effect of what they had done. The female prisoners
were now sent back to Dobodura with a message to the Dobodura, that
I should return in a few months and make peace with them, should they
in the meantime refrain from murdering the coastal people, but should
they persist in their raiding I should return and handle them still
more severely." In return we gave them presents of axes, knives,
beads, tobacco, etc., which were laid down on the top of each pig.
Monckton very kindly presented Acland and myself with all the clubs,
native masks, "tapa" cloth and ornaments, and the pigs and other food
came in very useful for our police and carriers, as our rice supply
was getting low.
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