all gathered round their chief and
squatting on the ground. About the only one who behaved sensibly
was my friend the chief. He spoke in a slow and dignified manner,
but the rest worked themselves up into a furious rage, and twanged
their bowstrings, and jumped about and fitted arrows to their bows,
and pointed them at inoffensive "papaya" trees, whilst two little
boys shot small arrows into the green and yellow fruit, seeming to
catch the fever from their elders. One man actually danced a kind of
war-dance on his own account, strutting about with his bow and arrow
pointed, and getting into all sorts of grotesque attitudes, moving
about with his legs stiffened, and pulling the most hideous faces,
till I was forced to laugh.

But it seemed to be no laughing matter for the Negritos. The old woman
beat them all; she did not want anyone to get in a word edgeways,
but screamed and yelled, almost foaming at the mouth, till I almost
expected to see her fall down in a fit. I never before witnessed such
a display of fury.

Vic kept me well advised as to the progress of the proceedings, and
it was eventually settled that each of the three brother chiefs were
to gather together three hundred fighting men, making nine hundred
altogether, and these in a few days' time were to go up and avenge
the deaths of their fellow tribesmen. From the enthusiasm displayed
amongst the little men, this was evidently carried unanimously,
but I noticed two young men sitting aloof from the rest of the
crowd and looking rather sullen and frightened, and as they did not
join in the general warlike demonstrations, it was evidently their
first fight. Here, however, I made Vic interrupt in order to draw
attention to myself. What Vic translated to me was to the effect that
it was out of the question for us to go on into the enemy's country,
which we should have reached in another two hours' walk. If we did
they would certainly kill us all by shooting arrows into us from the
long grass (in other words, we should fall into an ambush), and, in
fact, since they had killed some of this tribe they would kill anyone
that came into their country. By killing these men they had declared
war. This was the sum total of Vic's translation, and I saw at once
that it was out of the question for me to go on, as no Negrito would
go with me, and I could not go alone. In any case I should have been
killed. Vic told me that very few of these Buquils ever leave their
mountai