re I lived in an abandoned mission house,
in the midst of a thickly populated district. At present, the people
are quiet, and go about as they please; but not long ago, the villages
lived in a constant state of feud among themselves, so that no man
dared go beyond his district alone, and the men had to watch the
women while they were at work in the fields, for fear of attack. The
sense of insecurity was such that many people who lived in villages
only twenty minutes' walk from the coast had never seen the ocean. The
population as a whole enjoys the state of peace, which the missionaries
have brought about, though there are always mischief-makers who try
to create new feuds, and there is no doubt that the old wars would
break out anew, if the natives were left to themselves.

These disturbances were not very destructive in the days of the old
weapons; it is only since the introduction of firearms that they
have become a real danger to the race as a whole. They even had their
advantages, in forcing the men to keep themselves in condition, and
in providing them with a regular occupation, such as preparing their
weapons, or training, or guarding the village and the women. With the
end of the feuds, the chief occupation of the men disappeared, and but
few of them have found any serious work to take up their time. Thus
civilization, even in its role of peace-maker, has replaced one evil
by another.

In this district, I could go about with my servants wherever I pleased;
only one Santo boy I had with me did not feel safe, and suddenly
developed great interest in cooking, which allowed him to stay at
home while the rest of us went on expeditions. His cooking was not
above reproach; he would calmly clean a dirty cup with his fingers,
the kitchen towels occasionally served as his head-dress, and one day
he tried to make curry with some iodoform I had left in a bottle on
the table. However, I had learned long ago not to be too particular,
and not to take too much interest in the details of the kitchen.

An exceptionally bright man had offered me his services as guide,
and with his help I obtained many objects I would never have found
alone. He had a real understanding of what I wanted, and plenty
of initiative. He made the women bring their modest possessions,
and they approached, crawling on their hands and knees, for they
are not allowed to walk before the men. Later on the men appeared
with better things. It is an odd fact t