[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]
CHAPTER XII
PENTECOSTE
THE term of service of my Ambrym boys being
over, I tried to replace them in Paama, but failed;
but Mr. G. kindly took me to Epi, where I engaged
four new boys. However, they proved as sulky as
they were dirty, and I was disgusted with them,
and quite glad they had refused to sign for more
than a month. As they were all troubled with many
sores, they were of very little service to me, and
I gladly sent them home by steamer when their
month was up.
I returned to Dip Point, and a few days later Dr. B.
escorted me to Olal, where I took up my quarters
with Mr. D., a young Australian who was trying to
make a living by the coprah trade. In Olal, at the
northern point of Ambrym, the alcohol trade is
particularly flourishing, and numerous settlers along
the coast earn large sums by selling liquor. Every-
body knows this, and numbers of intoxicated natives
are always to be seen, so that it is somewhat surpris-
ing that the authorities pretend not to have sufficient
proof to punish these traders. If ever one of them
is fined, the amount is so minute that the sale of half
a dozen bottles makes up for it, so that they go on as
before. I myself witnessed two cases of death in
