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

80 WITH NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC ‘

The natives seemed undecided what to do, and
squatted about, talking among themselves, until at
last one of them pulled me by the sleeve and led us
towards the two newcomers. We understood that
they were the murderers, and each of us took hold of
one of them. They made no resistance, but general
excitement arose in the crowd, all the other natives
shouting and gesticulating, even threatening each
other with their rifles. They were split in two
parties,-——one that wanted to give up the murderers,
and their relatives, who wanted to keep them. We
told them that the affair would be settled if they gave
up the murderers ; if not, the man—of-war would come
and punish the whole village. As my prisoner tried
to get loose, I bound him, and while I was busy with
this I heard a shot. Seeing that all the men had
their rifles ready, I expected the fight to begin, but
George told me his prisoner had escaped and he had
shot after him. The man had profited by George’s
indecision to run away. I

This actual outbreak of the hostilities excited the
people so that we thought it best to retire, taking our
single prisoner with us. A few of the natives followed
us, and when we left the village the relatives of the
murderer broke out in violent wailing and weeping,
thinking, as did the prisoner, Belni, himself, that we
were going to eat him up, after having tortured him
to death. Belni trembled all over, was very gentle
and inclined to weep like a punished child, but quite
resigned and not even offering any resistance. He
only asked Macao anxiously what we were going to do