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

70 WITH NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

happily, also, admired us. So vain is human—kind that
even the admiration of cannibals is agreeable. I let
some of them try my shotgun, and everyone wanted
to attempt the feat, although they were all badly
frightened. They held the gun at arm’s length,
turned their faces away and shot at random; it was
clear that very few knew how to shoot, and that
their Sniders could be of use only at short range.
This is confirmed by the fact that all their murders
are done point-blank.

Bourbaki brought news that in a few days there
was to be a great sacrificial feast in the village, and
that, everybody being busy preparing for it, we had
no chance of recruiting, neither could we see the
great chief, he being shut up in his house, invisible
to everybody except to a little boy, his servant.
We landed a goat for Bourbaki’s father ; the innocent
animal caused terrible fright and great admiration.
All the men retreated behind trunks or rocks and no
one dared touch the strange creature. Bourbaki was
very proud of himself for knowing goats, and fastened
the poor little thing to a tree in the shade. He then
coaxed three old men on board. Clumsily they
entered the whale—boats, and even on board the
cutter they squatted anxiously down and dared
hardly move for fear the ship might capsize or they
might slip into the water, of which they Were quite
afraid. They could hardly speak, and stared at
everything, wide—eyed and open-mouthed. They for-
got their fears, however, in delight over our posses-
sions. A saucepan proved a joy; the boards and