across the wide sea, and a golden sunset was followed by a
long afterglow. Far away on the softly shining silver we saw a sail,
small as a fly, that drifted slowly seaward and was swallowed up by
the darkness, from which the stars emerged one by one. The women had
disappeared in the huts; the men were sitting outside, around the
fires, and, thinking I was asleep, talked about me in biche la mar.

First they wondered why a man should care to climb up a mountain
simply to come down again; and my boys told them of all my doings,
about my collecting curios and skulls, of my former wanderings and the
experiences we had had, and how often the others had tried to shoot
me, etc. In short, I found out a great many things I had never known,
and I shivered a little at hearing what I had escaped, if all the
boys said was true. At last, when I had been sufficiently discussed,
which was long after midnight, they lay down, each beside a small fire,
and snored into the cool, clear night.

The following morning was brilliantly fine. We took a hearty leave
of our hosts, and raced, singing and shouting, down the steep hills,
and so home. The fine weather was at an end. The sky was cloudy, the
barometer fell and a thin rain pierced everything. Two days later the
steamer arrived, and I meant to go aboard, but a heavy swell from the
west set in, such as I had never seen before, although not a breath of
wind was stirring. These rollers were caused by a cyclone, and gave us
some idea of its violence. I despaired of ever reaching the steamer,
but Mr. B. was an expert sailor, and making the most of a slight lull,
he brought me safely through the surf and on board. His goods, however,
could not be loaded on to the steamer, which immediately sailed. We
passed New Year's Eve and New Year's Day at anchor in South-West Bay,
Malekula, while a terrific gale whipped the water horizontally toward
the ship and across the deck. We spent gloomy holidays, shut up in the
damp, dark steamer, unable to stay on deck, restless and uncomfortable
below. How one learns to appreciate the British impassiveness which
helps one, in such conditions, to spend a perfectly happy day with
a pipe and a talk about the weather!

On the morning of the third day we lay off the east coast of Malekula,
on a blue, shining sea, with all the landscape as peaceful and bright
as if there were no such thing as a cyclone in the world.

I landed, packed my collections, which I had left