up in his arms, literally forced the
unfortunate young man out of the house--not by the door, but through the
side, tearing a hole in the thin lattice woodwork big enough to admit a
bollock. The remainder of the deputation at once retired, and, as I
have mentioned in the previous chapter, "Bully" and myself parted, each
deeply incensed.

Harry, who had a large following of wild, intractable Pleasant
Islanders, all of whom were armed with Snider rifles, moved over to the
opposite shore of Utwe Harbour with "the three Graces and the fourth
chucked in," promising to come and see me at Leasse after he had
"settled down a bit."

My reason for removing to Leasse was that I knew the place very well
through frequent visits there, and Eusis, the head man or chief, had
constantly pressed me to come there and live; so a few hours after my
quarrel with Hayes I made a start, accompanied by two Strong's Islanders
named Sru and Nana, both of whom came from Leasse, and were delighted
that I was leaving Utwe to come to their own village.

They assured me that I was doing wisely in leaving the captain, that the
people of Leasse would gladly receive me, and that I would find great
pig-hunting and pigeon-shooting among the dense forests that lay at the
back of the village.

Our way lay over the waters of a deep but winding lagoon, which from
Utwe to Coquille Harbour is bounded on the ocean side by a chain of
narrow, thickly wooded, and fertile islets, the haunt of myriads of
sea-birds and giant robber crabs. This chain of islets lay on our left
hand; on our right the steep, forest-clad mountains of Strong's Island
rose abruptly from the still waters of the lagoon. The lagoon itself
averaged about a mile in width, and here and there, dotted upon its
placid, glassy surface, were tiny isolated islets of perhaps not more
than an acre in extent, but covered with a dense mass of the loveliest
verdure imaginable, from the centre of which rose a group of half a
dozen or so of stately coco-nut palms. Each islet was encircled by a
snow-white beach, descending abruptly to the water, the great depth of
which enabled us to paddle within a foot or so of the shore.

We had left Utwe just after daylight, and though the trade-wind was
blowing freshly outside and we could hear the thunder of the ocean
rollers pounding on the outside reef beyond the encircling chain of
islets half a mile away, scarcely the faintest breath of air disturbed
the blue dep