lthough a generous and amiable race, very
cowardly.

During the time my house was being built I made friends with every boy
and girl in the village; they took an especial delight in taking me
about shooting and fishing. At the rear of Leasse the forest-clad
mountains rise in a gradual but magnificent sweep to a height of two
thousand feet, and on the second day after my arrival we set out to try
and shoot some wild pigs, with which the dense mountain jungle abounded.
The only adult beside myself with the party was the old boar hunter Rii.
He was armed with a very heavy wooden spear, with a keen steel head,
shaped like a whaler's lance, whilst the rest of the party, who were
composed of boys and girls ranging in years from ten to fifteen, carried
lighter spears. Every girl had two or three mongrel curs held in a
leash. These animals were, however, well trained in pig-hunting and
never barked until the prey was either being run down or was brought to
bay. Amongst the children were two half-castes--brother and sister. The
boy was about twelve, the girl a couple of years older. I learnt
that their father, who was dead, was an Englishman, a deserter from a
man-of-war. He had married a girl at Coquille Harbour, and, after living
on Strong's Island for a few years, had gone with his wife and children
to the Western Carolines, where he was killed in an attack on a native
fortress, and the woman and boy and girl had returned to their native
land in a whaleship. The girl spoke English very well, and although she
was naked to the waist when we first started out, a feeling of modesty
made her return to the village and don a man's singlet. Old Rii, our
leader, who could not speak a word of English, called the pair up to me,
and, pointing to the boy, said "Te-o" (Joe), and to the girl, "Lit-si"
(Lizzie). Although they were much lighter in colour than the rest of our
company, I had no idea they had white blood in their veins till the
girl said shyly, "This is my brother; my father belong to England." I
afterwards found from her that she only knew her father as "Bob"--his
surname was never known.

For the first mile or two we walked along the banks of a noisy mountain
stream, which here and there formed into deep pools, with a bottom of
bright blue stones. These pools contained many fish, as well as vast
numbers of crayfish. One of the girls with us carried fishing-tackle,
and in a few minutes some rods were cut, the hooks baited with