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

62 WITH NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

shrewd eyes and a big mouth, apparently quite happy
in civilization, and devoted to George. He was one
of the few natives who openly admitted his liking for
human flesh, and rapturously described its incom-
parable tenderness, whiteness and delicacy. A year
ago, when visiting his village, he had been incon-
solable because he had come a day late for a cannibal
feast, and had blamed his father bitterly for not having
saved a piece for him. Aside from this ghoulish pro-
pensity, Bourbaki was a thoroughly nice fellow, oblig-
ing, reliable and as happy as a child at the prospect
of seeing his father again. We expected good service
and help in recruiting from him, and promised him
ample head-money.

Bourbaki had run away without the permission of
his chief, who was furious at the loss of his best man,
and had given orders to kill the recruiter, a brother-
in-la'w of George. Some natives had ambushed and
shot at them while entering the whale-boat; the white
had received several wounds, and a native woman
had been killed. The boat pulled away rapidly.
Bourbaki laughed, and, indeed, by this time the little
incident was quite forgotten, as its only victim had
been a woman.

The morning was damp and dull. The hills came
down to the sea in slopes of grey-green, the shore
was a soft brown, and the rocks lay in dark patches on
the beach, separated from the greyish-green of the
sea by the white line of the breakers. The hollow
sound of the dynamite explosions glided along the
slopes and was swallowed in distant space.