[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

78 WITH NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

possible ambush. It was a disagreeable moment
when we dived into the thicket, where we expected
to be attacked any moment, and I could hardly blame
another fat boy for dropping behind, too, to “watch
the shore,” as he said. Not wishing to lose any time,
we let him go, for we were anxious to be in the
village before the natives should have time to rally
and prepare for resistance.

The path was miserable~slippery slepes, wildly
knotted roots, stones, creeks and high reeds. We
were kept quite busy enough watching our path, and
were not careful at all about watching the bush ; but
we were confident that the natives, being very poor
shots, would betray their presence by a random shot.
We were exposed, of course, to shots from close
quarters alongside the path, but we trusted to Macao’s
sharp eyes to detect a hidden enemy. After an
hour’s brisk walk, we asked Macao whether the
village was still far off ; every time we asked, his
answer was the same: “ Bim by you me catch him,”
or, “ Him he close up.’ However, after an hour and
a half, we began to feel worried. We had no idea
whether we would find a peaceful village or an armed
tribe, and in the latter case a retreat would doubtless
have been fatal, owing to the long distance we would
have had to go in the forest, where the white man is

7

always at a disadvantage. But we had undertaken
the adventure, and we had to see it through.

After two hours we unexpectedly came upon
a village. A dozen men and a few women were
squatting about, evidently expecting some event.