attracted by all our
wonderful treasures, and would have liked to see the country where
all these things came from. They imagined the plantations must be very
beautiful places, while the old men had vague notions to the contrary,
and were afraid of losing their young braves.

During a lull in the proceedings we climbed the narrow, steep and
slippery path up to the tableland in order to get an idea of the
country behind the hills. Half-way up we met two old men carrying
yam down to the beach. They were terrified at sight of us, began to
tremble, stopped and spoke to us excitedly. We immediately laid down
our rifles, and signed to them to approach, but they suddenly dropped
their loads, ran off and disappeared in the bush. They evidently feared
we had come to kidnap them, and we decided it was wiser to return to
the beach, so as not to irritate the people. Shortly afterwards another
crowd of natives came along the beach carrying yam. They approached
with extreme care, ready to fight or fly, but they were less afraid of
us than of the natives, for whom that part of the beach was reserved,
and with whom we had been trading. They were enemies of the newcomers,
who knew that they were outside their own territory and might expect
an attack any moment. Squatting down near us, they anxiously watched
the forest, ever ready to jump up. One of them, who spoke a little
biche la mar, came up to me and asked me to anchor that night near
their beach, and buy yams from them, which we promised to do. At a
sound in the forest they jumped up and ran away. George, wishing to
talk more with them, took his rifle and ran after them, but they had
already retreated behind some boulders, and were waving their rifles
and signalling him to stay where he was. They thought we were in a
plot with other natives, and had ambushed them. To such a degree do
these people live in constant fear, and thus arise misunderstandings
which end in death, unless the whites are very prudent and quiet. Many
a recruiter in our case would have welcomed this apparent provocation
to shoot at the natives from a safe distance with his superior rifle.

All day it rained in heavy squalls, coming from over the hills;
everything was damp, the night was dark and still and we sighed in
our narrow cell of a cabin. Next morning Bourbaki came back with a
new crowd of natives, who again felt and investigated, happily, also,
admired us. So vain is human-kind that even the admiration