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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of “Martin Of Nitendi”; and The River Of Dreams, by
+Louis Becke
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: “Martin Of Nitendi”; and The River Of Dreams
+       1901
+
+Author: Louis Becke
+
+Release Date: February 18, 2008 [EBook #24641]
+Last Updated: March 8, 2018
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARTIN OF NITENDI ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+“MARTIN OF NITENDI”; and THE RIVER OF DREAMS
+
+By Louis Becke
+
+T. Fisher Unwin, 1901
+
+
+
+
+“MARTIN OF NITENDI”
+
+Half-way up the side of the mountain which overlooked the waters of
+the little land-locked harbour there was a space clear of timber. Huge,
+jagged rocks, whose surfaces were covered with creepers and grey moss,
+protruded from the soil, and on the highest of these a man was lying at
+full length, looking at the gunboat anchored half a mile away. He was
+clothed in a girdle of _ti_ leaves only; his feet were bare, cut, and
+bleeding; round his waist was strapped a leather belt with an empty
+cartridge pouch; his brawny right hand grasped a Snider rifle; his
+head-covering was a roughly made cap of coconut-nut leaf, with a
+projecting peak, designed to shield his blood-shot, savage eyes from
+the sun. Yet he had been a White Man. For nearly an hour he had been
+watching, ever since the dawn had broken. Far below him, thin, wavering
+curls of pale blue smoke were arising from the site of the native
+village, fired by the bluejackets on the previous evening. The ruins of
+his own house he could discern by the low stone wall surrounding it;
+as for the native huts which, the day before, had clustered so thickly
+around his own dwelling, there was now no trace save heaps of grey
+ashes.
+
+A boat put off from the ship, and as the yellow-bladed oars flashed in
+the sunlight the man drew his rifle close up to his side and his eyes
+gleamed with a deadly hatred.
+
+“Officers' shootin' party,” he muttered, as he watched the boat ground
+on the beach and three men, carrying guns, step out and walk up the
+beach--“officer's shootin' party. Christ A'mighty! I'd like to pot every
+one o' the swine. An' I could do it, too, I could do it. But wot's the
+use o' bein' a blarsted fool for nothin'?”
+
+The boat's crew got out and walked about the smouldering remains of the
+village, seeking for curios which had escaped the fire, pausing awhile
+to look at a large mound of sand, under which lay seven of the natives
+killed by the landing-party on the preceding day. Then, satisfied that
+there was nothing to be had, the coxswain grumblingly ordered the men
+back to the boat, which pushed off and returned to the ship.
+
+The wild, naked creature lying upon the boulder saw the boat pull off
+with a sigh of satisfaction. There was, under the ashes of his house,
+and buried still further under the soil, a 50-lb. beef barrel filled
+with Chilian and Mexican dollars. And he had feared that the bluejackets
+might rake about the ashes and find it.
+
+He rose and stepped down the jagged boulder to where, at the base,
+the thick carpet of dead leaves, fallen from the giant trees which
+encompassed it, silenced even the tread of his naked feet. Seated
+against the bole of a many-buttressed _vi_-tree was a native woman,
+whose right arm, shattered by a bullet and bound up in the spathe of a
+coconut-palm, was suspended from her neck by a strip of soft bark. She
+looked at him inquiringly.
+
+“A boat has come ashore,” he said in the native tongue, “but none of the
+white men are seeking for my money.”
+
+“Thy money!” The woman's eyes blazed with a deadly fury. “What is thy
+money to me? Is thy money more to us than the blood of our child? O,
+thou coward heart!”
+
+Grasping his Snider by the tip of the barrel the man looked at his wife
+with sullen, dulled ferocity.
+
+“I am no coward, Nuta. Thou dost not understand. I wish to save the
+money, but I wish for revenge as well. Yet what can I do? I am but one
+man, and have but one cartridge left.”
+
+* * * * *
+
+This naked, sun-tanned being was one of the most desperate and
+blood-stained beachcombers that had ever cursed the fair isles of the
+South Pacific, and in those days there were many, notably on Pleasant
+Island and in the Gilbert Group. Put ashore at Nitendi from a Hobart
+Town whaler for mutinous conduct, he had disassociated himself for ever
+from civilisation. Perhaps the convict strain in his blood had something
+to do with his vicious nature, for both his father and mother had “left
+their country for their country's good,” and his early training had been
+given him under the shadow of the gallows and within the swishing sound
+of the “cat” as it lacerated the backs of the wretched beings doomed to
+suffer under the awful convict system.
+
+From the simple, loafing beachcomber stage of life to that of a leader
+of the natives in their tribal wars was a simple but natural transition,
+and Jim Martin, son of a convict father and mother whose forbears were
+of the scum of Liverpool, and knew the precincts of a prison better than
+the open air, followed the path ordained for him by Fate.
+
+The man's reckless courage won him undoubted respect from his
+associates; the head chief of the village alone possessed a greater
+influence. A house was built for him, and a wife and land given him; and
+within a year of his arrival on the island he signalised himself by a
+desperate attempt to cut-off a barque bound from Hobart to China as
+she lay becalmed off the island. The attempt failed, and many of his
+followers lost their lives. A few months later, however, he was more
+successful with a Fijian trading cutter, which, anchoring off the
+village, was carried during the night, plundered of her cargo of trade
+goods (much of which was firearms), and then burnt. This established his
+reputation.
+
+Five years passed. But few vessels touched at the island now, for it had
+a bad name, and those which did call were well armed and able to beat
+off an attack. Then one day, two years before the opening of this story,
+a trading schooner called off the village, and Martin, now more a savage
+native than a white man, was tempted by her defenceless condition, and
+by the money which the captain carried for trading purposes, to capture
+her, with the aid of the wild, savage people among whom he had cast
+his lot. Of what use the money would be to him he knew not. He was an
+outcast from civilisation, he was quickly forgetting his mother tongue;
+but his criminal instincts, and his desire to be a “big man” with the
+savages among whom he had lived for so long, led him to perpetrate this
+one particular crime. In the dead of night he led a party of natives
+on board the schooner, and massacred every one of her crew, save one
+Fijian, who, jumping overboard, swam to the shore, and was spared. A few
+months later this man escaped to a passing whaler, and the story of the
+massacre of the captain and crew of the _Fedora_ was made known to
+the commodore of the Australian station, who despatched a gunboat “to
+apprehend the murderers and bring them to Sydney for trial.” Failing the
+apprehension of the murderers, the commander was instructed “to burn
+the village, and inflict such other punitive methods upon the people
+generally” as he deemed fit.
+
+So Commander Lempriere, of H.M. gunboat _Terrier_, went to work with
+a will. He meant to catch the murderers of the crew of the _Fedora_ if
+they possibly could be caught, and set to work in a manner that would
+have shocked the commodore. Instead of steaming into the bay on which
+the village was situated--and so giving the natives ample time to clear
+out into the mountains--he brought-to at dusk, when the ship was twenty
+miles from the land, and sent away the landing party in three boats. The
+Fijian--he who had escaped from the massacre of the _Fedora_--was the
+guide.
+
+“You know what to do, Chester,” said Commander Lempriere to his first
+lieutenant as the boatswain's whistles piped the landing party away;
+“land on the north point, about two miles from the village, and surround
+it, and then wait till daylight. You can do it easily enough with thirty
+men, as it lies at the foot of the mountain, and there is no escape
+for the beggars unless they break through you and get into the bush. Be
+guided by the Fiji boy; and, as the Yankees say, 'no one wants a brass
+band with him when he's going duck-hunting,' so try and surround the
+village as quietly as possible. I'll see that none of them get away in
+their canoes. I'll work up abreast of the harbour by daylight.”
+
+Guided by the boy, Lieutenant Chester and the landing party succeeded in
+getting ashore without being seen, and then made a long detour along the
+side of the mountain, so as to approach the village from behind. Then
+they waited till daylight, and all would have gone well had not his
+second in command, just as the order was given to advance, accidentally
+discharged his revolver. In an instant the village was alarmed, and some
+hundreds of natives, many of them armed with rifles, and led by Martin,
+sprang from their huts and made a short but determined resistance. Then,
+followed by their women and children, they broke through the bluejackets
+and escaped into the dense mountain jungle, where they were safe from
+pursuit. But the fire of the seamen had been deadly, for seven
+bodies were found; among them was a boy of about ten, whom the Fijian
+recognised as the renegade's son--a stray bullet had pierced his body
+as he sat crouching in terror in his father's house, and another
+had wounded his mother as she fled up the mountainside, for in the
+excitement and in the dim morning light it was impossible for the
+attacking party to tell women from men.
+
+Then by the commander's orders the village and fleet of canoes was
+fired, and a dozen or so of rockets went screaming and spitting
+among the thick mountain jungle, doing no damage to the natives, but
+terrifying them more than a heavy shell fire. *****
+
+“Let us away from here, Nuta,” said Martin, “'tis not safe. In the hut
+by the side of the big pool we can rest till the ship has gone and our
+people return. And I shall bind thy arm up anew.”
+
+The woman obeyed him silently, and in a few minutes they were skirting
+the side of the mountain by a narrow leaf-strewn path, taking the
+opposite direction to that followed by the two officers and bluejackets.
+Half an hour's walk brought them to the river bank, which was clothed
+with tall spear-grass. Still following the path, they presently emerged
+out into the open before a deep, spacious pool, at the further end of
+which was a dilapidated and deserted hut. Here the woman, faint with the
+pain of her wound, sank down, and Martin brought her water to drink, and
+then proceeded to re-examine and properly set her broken arm.
+
+*****
+
+The two officers--the second lieutenant and a ruddy-faced, fair-haired
+midshipman named Walters--had hardly proceeded a hundred yards along the
+beach, when the boy stopped.
+
+“Oh, Mr. Grayling, let us turn back and go the other way. There's a big
+river runs into the next bay, with a sort of a lake about a mile up; I
+saw it in the plan of the island, this morning. We might get a duck or
+two there, sir.”
+
+“Any way you like,” replied the officer, turning about, “and walking
+along the beach will be better than climbing up the mountain in the
+beastly heat for the sake of a few tough pigeons.”
+
+Followed by the three bluejackets, who were armed with rifles, they set
+off along the hard white sand. In a few minutes they had rounded the
+headland on the north side and were out of sight of the ship. For quite
+a mile they tramped over the sand, till they came to the mouth of the
+river, which flowed swiftly and noisily over a shallow bar. A short
+search revealed a narrow path leading up along the bank, first through
+low thicket scrub, and then through high spear-grass. Further back, amid
+the dense forest, they could hear the deep notes of the wild pigeons,
+but as young Walters was intent on getting a duck they took no heed, but
+pressed steadily on.
+
+“By jove! what a jolly fine sheet of water!” whispered the midshipman as
+they emerged out from the long grass and saw the deep, placid pool lying
+before them; then he added disappointedly, “but not a sign of a duck.”
+
+“Never mind,” said Grayling consolingly, as he sat down on the bank and
+wiped his heated face, “we'll get plenty of pigeons, anyway. But first
+of all I'm going to have something to eat and drink. Open that bag,
+Williams, and you, Morris and Jones, keep your ears cocked and your
+eyes skinned. It's lovely and quiet here, but I wouldn't like to get a
+poisoned arrow into my back whilst drinking bottled beer.”
+
+“I'm going to have a swim before I eat anything,” said Walters, with a
+laugh. “Won't you, sir?” he asked, as he began undressing.
+
+“Looks very tempting,” replied the officer, “but I'm too hot. Take my
+advice and wait a bit till you're cooler.”
+
+The youngster only laughed, and, having stripped, took a header from
+the bank, and then swam out into the centre of the pool where it was
+deepest.
+
+“Oh, do come in, sir,” he cried; “it's just splendid. There's a bit of a
+current here and the water is delightfully cool.”
+
+*****
+
+Martin was aroused from his sleep by the sound or voices. He seized his
+rifle, bent over his wife, and whispered to her to awake; then crawling
+on his hands and knees from the hut he reached the bank and looked out,
+just as young Walters dived into the water.
+
+Hardened murderer as he was, he felt a thrill of horror, for he knew
+that the pool was a noted haunt of alligators, and to attempt to swim
+across it meant certain death.
+
+His wife touched his arm, and crouching beside him, her black eyes
+filled with a deadly hatred, she showed her white teeth and gave a low,
+hissing laugh.
+
+“Before one can count ten he will be in the jaws,” she said, with savage
+joy.
+
+“Nuta,” whispered Martin hoarsely, “'tis but a boy,” and the veins stood
+out on his bronzed forehead as his hand closed tighter around his rifle.
+
+“What wouldst thou do, fool?” said the woman fiercely as she seized the
+weapon by the barrel; “think of thy son who died but yesterday... ah!
+ah! look! look!”
+
+Tearing the rifle from her grasp he followed the direction of her eyes;
+a swiftly-moving black snout showed less than thirty yards from the
+unconscious bather, who was now swimming leisurely to the bank.
+
+“He must not die,” he muttered; “'tis but a boy!” Then turning to the
+woman he spoke aloud. “Quick! run to the forest; I shall follow.”
+
+Again she sought to stay his hand; he dashed her aside, raised the rifle
+to his shoulder and took a quick but steady aim; a second later the loud
+report rang out, and the monster, struck on his bony head by the heavy
+bullet, sank in alarm; and then, ere Martin turned to run, two other
+shots disturbed the silence and he pitched forward on his face into the
+long grass.
+
+* * * * *
+
+“We just saw the beggar in time, sir,” cried Jones. “I happened to look
+across and caught sight of him just as he fired at Mr. Walters. Me and
+Morris fired together.”
+
+Grayling had sprung to his feet. “Are you hit, Walters?” he shouted.
+
+“No,” replied the boy as he clambered up the bank; “what the deuce is
+the matter?”
+
+“A nigger took a pot-shot at you! Get under cover as quick as you can.
+Never mind your clothes!”
+
+Ten minutes passed. No sound broke the deathly stillness of the place;
+and then, cautiously creeping through the grass, the officer and Morris
+crawled round to where the latter had seen the man fall. They came upon
+him suddenly. He was lying partly on his face, with his eyes looking
+into theirs. Morris sprang up and covered him with his rifle.
+
+“I'm done for,” Martin said quietly “my back is broken. Did the
+crocodile get the boy?”
+
+“Crocodile!” said Grayling in astonishment. “Did you fire at a
+crocodile? Who are you? Are you a white man?”
+
+“Never mind who I am,” he gasped; “let me lie here. Look,” and he
+pointed to a bullet-hole in his stomach; “it's gone clean through me and
+smashed my backbone. Let me stay as I am.”
+
+He never spoke again, and died whilst a litter was being made to carry
+him down to the beach.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE RIVER OF DREAMS
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+There is a river I know which begins its life in a dark, sunless canyon
+high up amid the thick forest-clad spurs of the range which traverses
+the island from east to west. Here, lying deep and silent, is a pool,
+almost encompassed by huge boulders of smooth, black rock, piled
+confusedly together, yet preserving a certain continuity of outline
+where their bases touch the water's edge. Standing far up on the
+mountainside you can, from one certain spot alone, discern it two
+hundred feet below, and a thick mass of tangled vine and creepers
+stretching across its western side, through which the water flows on its
+journey to the sea.
+
+A narrow native path, used only by hunters of the wild pigs haunting the
+depths of the gloomy mountain forest, led me to it one close, steaming
+afternoon. I had been pigeon shooting along the crests of the ridges,
+and having shot as many birds as I could carry, I decided to make a
+short cut down to the level ground, where I was sure of finding water,
+resting awhile and then making my way home along the beach to the
+village.
+
+I had descended scarcely more than fifty yards when I struck the path--a
+thin, red line of sticky, clay soil, criss-crossed by countless roots of
+the great forest trees. A brief examination showed me that it had been
+trodden by the feet of natives quite recently; their footprints led
+downward. I followed, and presently came to a cleared space on the
+mountainside, a spot which had evidently been used by a party of hunters
+who had stayed there to cook some food, for the ashes of a fire lay in
+the ground-oven they had made. Laying down my gun, I went to the edge
+and peered cautiously over, and there far below I could see the pool,
+revealed by a shaft of sunlight which pierced down through the leafy
+canopy.
+
+Feeling sure that the track would lead me to the water, where I should
+have the satisfaction of a long drink, I set out again, and after
+narrowly escaping pitching down headlong, I at last reached the bottom,
+and, with a sigh of relief, threw down my gun and birds, and in another
+moment was drinking eagerly of the ice-cold, crystal water in one of the
+many minor pools which lay everywhere amid the boulders.
+
+After a few minutes' rest I collected some dead wood and lit a fire,
+being hungry as well as thirsty; then leaving it to burn down, I
+climbed one of the highest boulders to get a good view, and sighed with
+admiration at the scene--there lay before me a deep, almost circular
+sheet or water, about thirty yards across. Directly beneath me I could
+see the rocky bottom; fifty feet further out towards the centre it was
+of unfathomable blueness. On the opposite side a tree of enormous girth
+had fallen, long years before, yet it was still growing, for some of its
+mighty roots were embedded in the rich red soil of the mountain-side.
+
+As I looked, a fish, and then another, splashed just beside the fallen
+tree. Slipping down from the boulder, I made my way round, just in time
+to see scores of beautiful silvery fish, exactly like English grayling
+in shape, dart away from under the tree out into the deep water. In
+other streams of the island I had caught many of these fish, but had
+never seen any so high up inland; and, elated at the prospect of much
+future sport, I went on with my explorations.
+
+I was about to climb over the tree, when I discovered that I could pass
+underneath, for here and there it was supported on boulders standing
+out two or three feet above the water. On the other side a tiny stream
+trickled over a flat ledge of rock, to fall into a second but much
+smaller pool ten or fifteen feet below; beyond that lay a long, narrow
+but shallow stretch of crystal water, running between highly verdured
+banks, and further away in the distance I could hear the murmur of a
+waterfall.
+
+Turning over a stone with my foot, a crayfish darted off and tried
+to hide. There were scores, hundreds of them, everywhere--fine, fat,
+luscious fellows, and in ten minutes I had a dozen of the largest in my
+bag, to roast on the now glowing fire beside a juicy pigeon. Salt I had
+none, but I did possess a ship biscuit and a piece of cold baked taro,
+and with pigeon and crayfish, what more could a hungry man desire?
+
+The intense solitude of the place, too, was enchanting. Now and then
+the booming note of a pigeon, or the soft _coo-coo_ of a ringdove, would
+break the silence; overhead there was a sky of spotless blue; an hour
+before I had sweltered under a brazen sun; here, under the mountain
+shade, though there was not a breath of wind to stir a leaf, it was
+surprisingly cool.
+
+To lean against the soft white moss clothing the buttresses of a giant
+maruhia-tree and smoke a pipe, was delightful after a tramp of six
+or eight miles through a mountain forest; and to know that the return
+journey would be through easy country along the banks of a new river was
+better still.
+
+I set off with a feeling of joyful expectancy, taking a last glance at
+the beautiful little lake--I meant to return with some native friends to
+fish it on the morrow--ere I struck into the forest once more to pick up
+the path.
+
+Every now and then I caught glimpses of the river, now gradually
+widening as it was joined by other streamlets on either side. Some of
+these I had to wade through, others I crossed on stones or fallen trees.
+
+Half-way to the beach I came to a broad stretch of shallow water covered
+with purple water-lilies; three small ducks, with alarmed quacking, shot
+upward from where they had been resting or feeding under the bank, and
+vanished over the tree-tops; and a sudden commotion in the water showed
+me that there were many fish. Its beautiful clearness tempted me to
+strip off and swim about the floating garden resting on its bosom, and
+I was just about to undress when I heard a shot quite near. The moment
+after, I fired in return, and gave a loud hail; then the high reedy cane
+grass on the other side parted, and a man and a woman came out, stared
+at me, and then laughed in welcome. They were one Nalik and his wife,
+people living in my own village. The man carried a long single-barrelled
+German shot-gun, the woman a basket of pigeons. Stepping down the bank,
+they waded across and joined me.
+
+“How came ye here?” they asked, as we sat down together to smoke.
+
+I told them, and then learnt that the river ran into the sea through the
+mangroves at a spot many miles from the village. Then I asked about the
+big pool. Nalik nodded.
+
+“Ay, 'tis deep, very deep, and hath many fish in it. But it is a place
+of _jelon_ (haunted) and we always pass to one side. But here where we
+now sit is a fine place for fish. And there are many wild pigs in the
+forest.”
+
+“Let us come here to-morrow. Let us start ere the sun is up, and stay
+here and fish and shoot till the day be gone.”
+
+“Why not?” said Sivi his wife, puffing her cigarette, “and sleep
+here when night comes, for under the banks are many thousand _unkar_
+(crayfish), and I and some other women shall catch them by torchlight.”
+
+And that was how I began to learn this island river and its ways, so
+that now it has become the river ot my dreams.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+But with the dawn there came disappointment keen and bitter, for in the
+night the north-east trade had died away, and now wild, swooping rain
+squalls pelted and drenched the island from the westward, following each
+other in quick succession, and whipping the smooth water inside the
+reef into a blurred and churning sheet of foam, and then roaring away up
+through the mountain passes and canyons.
+
+With my gear all ready beside me, I sat on the matted floor of the
+hut in which I lived, smoking my pipe and listening to the fury of the
+squalls as the force of the wind bent and swayed the thatched roof, and
+made the cinnet-tied rafters and girders creak and work to and fro under
+the strain. Suddenly the wicker-work door on the lee side was opened,
+and Nalik jumped in, dripping with rain, but smiling good-naturedly as
+usual.
+
+“_Woa!_” he said, taking his long, straight black hair in his hands and
+squeezing out the water, “'tis no day for us.”
+
+I ventured an opinion that it might clear off soon. He shook his head as
+he held out his brown hand for a stiff tot of Hollands, tossed it off,
+and then sat down to open a small bundle he carried, and which contained
+a dry jumper and pair of dungaree pants.
+
+Then quickly divesting himself of the soddened girdle of grass around
+his loins, he put on the European garments, filled his pipe, and began
+to talk.
+
+“The wind will soon cease, for these squalls from the westward last not
+long at this time of the year; but when the wind ceases, then comes rain
+for two days sometimes--not heavy rain such as this, but soft rain as
+fine as hair, and all the forest is wetted and the mountain paths are
+dangerous even to our bare feet, and the pigeons give no note, and the
+sun is dead. So we cannot go to the river to-day. To-morrow perhaps it
+may be fine; therefore let us sit and be content.”
+
+So we sat and were content, remaining indoors in my own house, or
+visiting those of our neighbours, eating, drinking, smoking, and
+talking. I was the only white man on the island, and during my three
+months' residence had got to know every man, woman, child, and dog
+in the village. And my acquaintance with the dogs was very extensive,
+inasmuch as every one of the thirty-four families owned at least ten
+dogs, all of which had taken kindly to me from the very first. They were
+the veriest mongrels that ever were seen in canine form, but in spite of
+that were full of pluck when pig hunting. (I once saw seven or eight of
+them tackle a lean, savage old wild boar in a dried-up taro swamp; two
+of them were ripped up, the rest hung on to him by his ears and neck,
+and were dragged along as if they were as light as feathers, until a
+native drove a heavy ironwood spear clean through the creature's loins.)
+
+During the evening my native friends, in response to my inquiries about
+the river, told me that it certainly took its rise from the deep pool I
+have before described, and that had I made a more careful examination I
+should have seen several tiny rivulets, hidden by the dense undergrowth,
+flowing into it from both sides of the gorge. During severe rains an
+immense volume of muddy water would rush down; yet, strangely enough,
+the two kinds of fish which inhabited it were just as plentiful as ever
+as soon as the water cleared.
+
+About four o'clock in the morning, when I was sound in slumber, a voice
+called to me to awaken. It was Nalik.
+
+“Come out and look.”
+
+I lifted (not opened) my Venetian-sashed door of pandanus leaf, and
+stepped out.
+
+What a glorious change! The rain had ceased, and the shore and sea lay
+bright and clear under a myriad-starred sky of deepest blue; the white
+line of surf tumbling on the barrier reef a mile away seemed almost
+within stone-throw. A gentle breeze swayed the fronds of the coco-palms
+above us, and already the countless thousands of sea birds, whose
+“rookery” was on two small islets within the reef and near the village,
+were awake, and filling the air with their clamour as they, like us,
+prepared to start off for their day's fishing.
+
+Our party consisted of--
+
+(1) Nalik, his wife and five dogs.
+
+(2) Three young women, each with several dogs.
+
+(3) Old Sru, chief of the district, with numerous dogs.
+
+(4) Two boys and three girls, who carried baskets of food, crayfish
+nets, boar-spears, &c. Large number of dogs, male and female.
+
+(5) The white man, to whom, as soon as he appeared, the whole of the
+dogs immediately attached themselves.
+
+(6) Small boy of ten, named Toka, the terror of the village for
+his illimitable impudence and unsurpassed devilry. But as he was a
+particular friend of the white man (and could not be prevented) he was
+allowed to come. He had three dogs.
+
+
+Before we started old Sru, Nalik, and myself had some Hollands, two
+bottles of which were also placed in the care of Nalik's wife. The
+“devil,” as Toka was called, mimicked us as we drank, smacked his lips
+and rubbed one hand up and down his stomach. One of the big girls cuffed
+him for being saucy. He retaliated by darting between her legs and
+throwing her down upon the sand.
+
+Presently we started, the women and children going ahead, with the
+exception of the “devil,” who stuck close to me, and carried my Snider
+in one hand and my double-barrel muzzle-loader in the other.
+
+For the first two or three miles our way lay along the hard, white
+beach, whose sands were covered everywhere by millions of tiny,
+blue-backed, red-legged soldier crabs, moving to and fro in companies,
+regiments, and divisions, hastening to burrow before the daylight
+revealed their presence to their dreaded enemies--the golden-winged sand
+plovers and the greedy sooty terns, who yet knew how to find them by the
+myriad small nodules of sand they left to betray their hiding-place.
+
+Oh, the sweet, sweet smell of the forest as it is borne down from the
+mountains and carried seaward, to gladden, it may be, the heart of some
+hard-worked, broken-spirited sailor, who, in a passing ship, sees from
+aloft this fair, fair island with its smiling green of lear, and soft,
+heaving valleys, above the long lines of curving beach, showing white
+and bright in the morning sun! And, as you walk, the surf upon the reef
+for ever calls and calk; sometimes loudly with a deep, resonant boom,
+but mostly with a soft, faint murmur like the low-breathed sigh of a
+woman when she lies her cheek upon her lover's breast and looks upward
+to his face with eyes aglow and lips trembling for his kiss.
+
+Far, far above a feint note. 'Tis but a snow-white tropic bird,
+suspended in mid-air on motionless wing, his long scarlet pendrices
+almost invisible at such a height. Presently, as he discerns you, he
+lets his aerial, slender form sink and sink, without apparent motion,
+till he is within fifty feet, and then he turns his graceful head from
+side to side, and inquiringly surveys you with his full, soft black eye.
+For a moment or two he flutters his white wings gently and noiselessly,
+and you can imagine you hear his timid heart-beats; then, satisfied with
+his scrutiny, his fairy, graceful form floats upward into space again,
+and is lost to view.
+
+Leaving the beach and the sound of the droning surf behind us we turned
+to the starboard hand, and struck through the narrow strip of littoral
+towards the mountains. For the first mile or so our way was through a
+grove of pandanus-palms, nearly every one of which was in full fruit; on
+the branches were sitting hundreds of small sooty terns, who watched
+our progress beneath with the calm indifference borne of the utter
+confidence of immunity of danger from any human being.
+
+Once through the sandy stretch on which the pandanus loves to grow,
+we came to the outlier of the mountain lands--low, gently undulating
+ridges, covered on both sides of the narrow track with dense thickets
+of pineapples, every plant bearing a fruit half-matured, which, when
+ripened, was never touched by the hand of man, for the whole island was,
+in places, covered with thickets such as this, and the wild pig only
+revelled among them.
+
+“They grow thickly,” I said to Nalik.
+
+“Ay, _tahina_* they grow thickly and wild,” he replied, with some
+inflection of sadness in his voice; “long, long ago, before my father's
+father lived, there was a great town here. That was long before we of
+this land had ever seen a white man. And now we who are left are but as
+dead leaves.”
+
+     * Friend.
+
+“How came it so to be?”
+
+He shook his head. “I cannot tell. I only know that once we of this land
+numbered many, many thousands, and now we are but hundreds. Here, where
+we now walk, was once a great town of houses with stone foundations; if
+ye cut away the _fara_ (pineapples) thou wilt see the lower stones lying
+in the ground.”
+
+We pressed onward and upward into the deeper forest, then turned
+downwards along a narrow path, carpeted thick with fallen leaves, damp
+and soft to the foot, for the sun's rays never pierced through the dense
+foliage overhead. And then we came out upon a fair, green sward with
+nine stately coco-palms clustered, their branches drooping over the
+river of my dreams, which lay before us with open, waiting bosom.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+Under the shade of the nine cocos we made our camp, and old Sru and the
+women and children at once set to work to build a “house” to protect us
+in case it rained during the nights. Very quickly was the house built.
+The “devil” was sent up the cocos to lop off branches, which, as they
+fell, were woven into thatch by the deft, eager hands of the women, who
+were supervised by Sivi, Nalik's handsome wife, amid much chatter and
+laughter, each one trying to outvie the other in speed, and all anxious
+to follow Nalik and myself to the river.
+
+The place was well chosen. For nearly a hundred yards there was a clear
+stretch of water flowing between low, grassy banks on which were growing
+a few scattered pandanus-palms--the screw pine. Half a mile distant, a
+jagged, irregular mountain-peak raised high its emerald-hued head in the
+clear sunshine, and from every lofty tree on both sides of the stream
+there came the continuous call of the gentle wood-doves and the great
+grey pigeons.
+
+With Nalik and myself there came old Sru and the imp Toka, who at once
+set to work and found us some small crayfish for bait. Our rods were
+slender bamboos, about twelve feet long, with lines of the same length
+made of twisted banana fibre as fine as silk, and equally as strong. My
+hook was an ordinary flatted Kirby, about half the size of an English
+whiting hook; Nalik preferred one of his own manufacture, made from a
+strip of tortoise-shell, barbless and highly polished.
+
+Taking our stand at a place where the softly-flowing current eddied and
+curled around some black boulders of rock whose surfaces were but a few
+inches above the clear, crystal stream, we quickly baited our hooks and
+cast together, the old chief and the boy throwing in some crushed-up
+crayfish shells at the same time. Before five seconds had passed my
+brown-skinned comrade laughed as his thin line tautened out suddenly,
+and in another instant he swung out a quivering streak of shining blue
+and silver, and deftly caught it with his left hand; almost at the
+same moment my rod was strained hard by a larger fish, which darted in
+towards the bank.
+
+“First to thee, Nalik; but biggest to the _rebelli_“* cried old Sru,
+as with some difficulty--for my rod was too slight for such a fish--I
+landed a lovely four-pounder on the grass.
+
+     * White man.
+
+Nalik laughed again, and before I had cleared my hook from the jaw of
+my prize he had taken another and then a third, catching each one in his
+left hand with incredible swiftness and throwing them to the boy. The
+women and girls on the opposite bank laughed and chaffed me, and urged
+me to hasten, or Nalik would catch five ere I landed another. But the
+_rebelli_ took no heed of their merriment, for he was quite content to
+let a few minutes go whilst he examined the glistening beauty which lay
+quivering and gasping on the sward. It was nearly eighteen inches in
+length, its back from the tip of the upper jaw to the tail a brilliant
+dark blue flecked with tiny specks of red, the sides a burnished silver,
+changing, as the belly was reached, to a glistening white. The pectoral
+and lower fins were a pale blue, flecked with somewhat larger spots
+of brighter red than those on the back, and the tail showed the same
+colouring. In shape it was much like a grayling, particularly about
+the head; and altogether a more beautiful fresh-water fish I have never
+seen.
+
+We fished for an hour or more, and caught three or four dozen of this
+particular fish as well as eight or nine dark-scaled, stodgy bream,
+which haunted the centre of the pool where the water was deep. Then as
+the sun grew fiercer they ceased to bite, and we ceased to tempt them;
+so we lay down and rested and smoked, whilst the women and children made
+a ground-oven and prepared some of the fish for cooking. Putting aside
+the largest--which was reserved for the old chief and myself--Nalik's
+kindly, gentle-voiced wife, watched the children roll each fish up in
+a wrapper of green coconut leaf and lay them carefully upon the glowing
+bed of stones in the oven, together with some scores of long, slender
+green bananas, to serve as a vegetable in place of taro or yams, which
+would take a much longer time to cook. On the top of all was placed the
+largest fish, and then the entire oven was rapidly covered up with wild
+banana leaves in the shape of a mound.
+
+The moment Nalik and I had laid down our rods, and whilst the oven was
+being prepared, Toka and the two other boys sprang into the water at
+one end of the pool and began to disturb the bottom with their feet. The
+young girls and women, each carrying a small finely-meshed scoop-net,
+joined them, and in a tew minutes they had filled a basket with
+crayfish, some of which were ten inches in length, and weighed over a
+pound, their tails especially being very large and fleshy.
+
+“Shall we boil or bake them?” asked Nalik as the basketful was brought
+up to me for examination.
+
+“Boil them,” I replied, for I had brought with me several pounds of
+coarse salt taken from our wrecked ship's harness cask and carefully
+dried in the sun, and a boiled crayfish or crab is better than one
+baked--and spoiled.
+
+A tall, graceful girl, named Seia, came forward with a large wooden
+bowl, nearly eighteen inches in diameter at the top, and two feet in
+depth--no light weight even to lift, for at its rim it was over an inch
+thick. Placing it on the ground in front of Sru and myself, she motioned
+to the other girls to bring water. They brought her about two gallons
+in buckets made of the looped-up leaves of the taro plant, and poured it
+into the vessel; then Nalik and old Sru, with rough tongs formed of the
+midrib of a coconut branch, whipped up eight or ten large red-hot stones
+from a fire near by, and dropped them into the vessel, the water in
+which at once began to boil and send up a volume of steam as Seia tipped
+the entire basketful of crustacean delicacies into the bowl, together
+with some handfuls of salt. Then a closely-woven mat was placed over the
+top and tied round it so as to keep in the heat--that is the way they
+boil food in the South Seas with a wooden pot!
+
+From time to time during the next quarter of an hour more red-hot stones
+were dropped into the bowl until old Sru pronounced the contents to be
+_tunua_, _i.e._, well and truly cooked, and then whilst the now bright
+red crayfish were laid out to cool upon platters of green woven coconut
+leaf, the first oven of fish and bananas was opened.
+
+What a delightful meal it was! The fat, luscious fish, cooked in their
+own juices, each one deftly ridden of its compact coating of silvery
+scales by the quick hands of the women, and then turned out hot and
+smoking upon a platter of leaf, with half a dozen green, baked bananas
+for bread! Such fish, and so cooked, surely fall to the lot of few. Your
+City professional diner who loves to instruct us in the daily papers
+about “how to dine” cannot know anything about the real enjoyment of
+eating. He is _blasé_ he regulates his stomach to his costume and to
+the season, and he eats as fashion dictates he should eat, and fills
+his long-suffering stomach with nickety, tin-pot, poisonous “delicacies”
+ which he believes are excellent because they are expensive and are
+prepared by a _chef_ whose income is ten times as much as his own.
+
+So we ate our fish and bananas, and then followed on with the crayfish,
+the women and children shelling them for us as fast as we could eat, the
+largest and fittest being placed before the old chief and the white man.
+And then for dessert we had a basket of red-ripe wild mangoes, with a
+great smooth-leaved pineapple as big as a big man's head, and showing
+red and green and yellow, and smelling fresh and sweet with the rain of
+the previous night. Near by where we sat was a pile of freshly-husked
+young coconuts, which a smiling-faced young girl opened for us as we
+wanted a drink, carefully pouring out upon the ground all the liquid
+that remained after Sru and myself had drank, and then putting the empty
+shells, with their delicate lining of alabaster flesh, into the fire to
+be consumed, for no one not of chiefly rank must partake even of that
+which is cast aside by a chief or his guests.
+
+Our first meal of the day finished, we--that is, Nalik, Sru, and
+myself--lay down under the shade or the newly-built thatched roof and
+smoked our pipes in content, whilst the women and children, attended by
+the dogs, bathed in the deepest part of the pool, shouting, laughing,
+and splashing and diving till they were tired. The dogs, mongrel as they
+were, enjoyed the fun as much as their masters, biting and worrying each
+other playfully as they swam round and round, and then crawling out upon
+the bank, they ran to and fro upon the grassy sward till they too were
+glad to rest under the shade of the clump of coco-palms.
+
+In the afternoon--leaving the rest of our party to amuse themselves by
+catching crayfish and to make traps for wild pigs--Sru, Nalik, Toka, and
+myself set out towards _the_ pool at the head of the river, where, I
+was assured, we were sure to get a pig or two by nightfall. The dogs
+evidently were equally as certain of this as Nalik and Sru, for the
+moment they saw the two men pick up their heavy hunting-spears they
+sprang to their feet and began howling and yelping in concert till they
+were beaten into silence by the women. I brought with me a short Snider
+carbine--the best and handiest weapon to stop a wild pig at a short
+range--and a double-barrelled muzzle-loading shot-gun. The latter I gave
+to the “devil” to carry, and promised him that he should fire at least
+five shots from it at pigeons or mountain fowl before we returned to the
+village.
+
+Following a narrow footpath which led along the right bank of the
+stream, we struck directly into the heart of the mountain forest, and in
+a few minutes the voices, shouts, and laughter of our companions sounded
+as if they were miles and miles away. Now and then as we got deeper
+into the dark, cool shade caused by the leafed dome above, we heard
+the shrill cry of the long-legged mountain cock--a cry which I can
+only describe as an attempt at the ordinary barnyard rooster's
+“cock-a-doodle-do” combined with the scream of a cat when its tail is
+trodden upon by a heavy-booted foot. Here in these silent, darkened
+aisles of the forest it sounded weird and uncanny in the extreme, and
+aroused an intense desire to knock the creature over; but I forebore to
+fire, although we once had a view of a fine bird, attended by a hen and
+chicks, scurrying across the leaf-strewn ground not fifty feet away.
+Everywhere around us the great grey pigeons were sounding their booming
+notes from the branches overhead, but of these too we took no heed, for
+a shot would have alarmed every wild pig within a mile of us.
+
+An hour's march brought us to the crest of a spur covered with a species
+of white cedar, whose branches were literally swarming with doves and
+pigeons, feeding upon small, sweet-scented berries about the size of
+English haws. Here we rested awhile, the dogs behaving splendidly by
+lying down quietly and scarcely moving as they watched me taking off my
+boots and putting on a pair of cinnet (coir fibre) sandals. Just beneath
+us was a deep canyon, at the bottom of which, so Nalik said, was a tiny
+rivulet which ran through banks covered with wild yams and _ti_ plants.
+
+“There be nothing so sweet to the mouth of the mountain pig as the thick
+roots of the _ti_,” said Nalik to me in a low voice. “They come here
+to root them up at this time of the year, before the wild yams are well
+grown, and the _ti_ both fattens and sweetens. Let us start.”
+
+At a sign from Sru, Nalilc and the boy Toka, followed by the dogs, went
+off towards the head of the canyon, so as to drive down to the old man
+and myself any pigs which might be feeding above, whilst we slipped
+quietly down the side of the spur to the bank of the rivulet. Sru
+carried my gun (which I had loaded with ball) as well as his spear. I
+had my Snider.
+
+We had not long to wait, for presently we heard the dogs give cry, and
+the silence of the forest was broken by the demoniac yells of Nalik and
+the “devil,” who had started a party of two boars and half a dozen
+sows with their half-grown progeny, which were lying down around the
+buttressed sides of a great tika-tree. They (the pigs) came down the
+side of the rivulet with a tremendous rush, right on top of us in fact.
+I fired at the leader--a great yellow, razorbacked boar with enormous
+tusks--missed him, but hit a young sow who was running on his port side.
+Sru, with truer aim, fired both barrels of his gun in quick succession,
+and the second boar dropped with a bullet through both shoulders, and a
+dear little black and yellow striped four-months'-old porker went under
+to the other barrel with a broken spine. Then in another three or four
+minutes we were kicking and “belting” about half of the dogs, who,
+maddened by the smell of blood from the wounded animals, sprang upon
+them and tried to tear them to pieces; the rest of the pack (Heaven save
+the term!) had followed the flying swine down the canyon; they turned up
+at the camp some three or four hours later with bloodied jaws and gorged
+to distension.
+
+The boar which Sru had shot was lean enough in all conscience, but
+the young sow and the four-months'-old porker were as round-bodied as
+barrels, and as fat as only pigs can be fat. After disembowelling them,
+we hoisted the carcasses up under the branch of a tree out of the reach
+of the dogs, and sent Toka back to the camp to tell the women to come
+and carry them away.
+
+Then, as we had still another hour or two of daylight, and I longed to
+see the deep, deep pool at the head of the river, even if it were but
+for a few moments, the old chief Nalik and I started off.
+
+It lay before us with many, many bars of golden sunlight striking down
+through the trees and trying to penetrate its calm, placid bosom with
+their warm, loving rays. Far below the sound of the waterfall sung to
+the dying day, and, as we listened, there came to us the dulled, distant
+murmur of the combing breakers upon the reef five miles away.
+
+“'Tis a fair, good place this, is it not?” whispered Nalik, as he sat
+beside me--“a fair, good place, though it be haunted by the spirits.”
+
+“Aye, a fair, sweet place indeed,” I answered, “and this pool aid the
+river below shall for ever be in my dreams when I am far away from
+here.”
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of “Martin Of Nitendi”; and The River Of
+Dreams, by Louis Becke
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of "Martin Of Nitendi"; and The River Of Dreams, by 
+Louis Becke
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: "Martin Of Nitendi"; and The River Of Dreams
+       1901
+
+Author: Louis Becke
+
+Release Date: February 18, 2008 [EBook #24641]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARTIN OF NITENDI ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+"MARTIN OF NITENDI"; and THE RIVER OF DREAMS
+
+By Louis Becke
+
+T. Fisher Unwin, 1901
+
+
+
+
+"MARTIN OF NITENDI"
+
+Half-way up the side of the mountain which overlooked the waters of
+the little land-locked harbour there was a space clear of timber. Huge,
+jagged rocks, whose surfaces were covered with creepers and grey moss,
+protruded from the soil, and on the highest of these a man was lying at
+full length, looking at the gunboat anchored half a mile away. He was
+clothed in a girdle of _ti_ leaves only; his feet were bare, cut, and
+bleeding; round his waist was strapped a leather belt with an empty
+cartridge pouch; his brawny right hand grasped a Snider rifle; his
+head-covering was a roughly made cap of coconut-nut leaf, with a
+projecting peak, designed to shield his blood-shot, savage eyes from
+the sun. Yet he had been a White Man. For nearly an hour he had been
+watching, ever since the dawn had broken. Far below him, thin, wavering
+curls of pale blue smoke were arising from the site of the native
+village, fired by the bluejackets on the previous evening. The ruins of
+his own house he could discern by the low stone wall surrounding it;
+as for the native huts which, the day before, had clustered so thickly
+around his own dwelling, there was now no trace save heaps of grey
+ashes.
+
+A boat put off from the ship, and as the yellow-bladed oars flashed in
+the sunlight the man drew his rifle close up to his side and his eyes
+gleamed with a deadly hatred.
+
+"Officers' shootin' party," he muttered, as he watched the boat ground
+on the beach and three men, carrying guns, step out and walk up the
+beach--"officer's shootin' party. Christ A'mighty! I'd like to pot every
+one o' the swine. An' I could do it, too, I could do it. But wot's the
+use o' bein' a blarsted fool for nothin'?"
+
+The boat's crew got out and walked about the smouldering remains of the
+village, seeking for curios which had escaped the fire, pausing awhile
+to look at a large mound of sand, under which lay seven of the natives
+killed by the landing-party on the preceding day. Then, satisfied that
+there was nothing to be had, the coxswain grumblingly ordered the men
+back to the boat, which pushed off and returned to the ship.
+
+The wild, naked creature lying upon the boulder saw the boat pull off
+with a sigh of satisfaction. There was, under the ashes of his house,
+and buried still further under the soil, a 50-lb. beef barrel filled
+with Chilian and Mexican dollars. And he had feared that the bluejackets
+might rake about the ashes and find it.
+
+He rose and stepped down the jagged boulder to where, at the base,
+the thick carpet of dead leaves, fallen from the giant trees which
+encompassed it, silenced even the tread of his naked feet. Seated
+against the bole of a many-buttressed _vi_-tree was a native woman,
+whose right arm, shattered by a bullet and bound up in the spathe of a
+coconut-palm, was suspended from her neck by a strip of soft bark. She
+looked at him inquiringly.
+
+"A boat has come ashore," he said in the native tongue, "but none of the
+white men are seeking for my money."
+
+"Thy money!" The woman's eyes blazed with a deadly fury. "What is thy
+money to me? Is thy money more to us than the blood of our child? O,
+thou coward heart!"
+
+Grasping his Snider by the tip of the barrel the man looked at his wife
+with sullen, dulled ferocity.
+
+"I am no coward, Nuta. Thou dost not understand. I wish to save the
+money, but I wish for revenge as well. Yet what can I do? I am but one
+man, and have but one cartridge left."
+
+* * * * *
+
+This naked, sun-tanned being was one of the most desperate and
+blood-stained beachcombers that had ever cursed the fair isles of the
+South Pacific, and in those days there were many, notably on Pleasant
+Island and in the Gilbert Group. Put ashore at Nitendi from a Hobart
+Town whaler for mutinous conduct, he had disassociated himself for ever
+from civilisation. Perhaps the convict strain in his blood had something
+to do with his vicious nature, for both his father and mother had "left
+their country for their country's good," and his early training had been
+given him under the shadow of the gallows and within the swishing sound
+of the "cat" as it lacerated the backs of the wretched beings doomed to
+suffer under the awful convict system.
+
+From the simple, loafing beachcomber stage of life to that of a leader
+of the natives in their tribal wars was a simple but natural transition,
+and Jim Martin, son of a convict father and mother whose forbears were
+of the scum of Liverpool, and knew the precincts of a prison better than
+the open air, followed the path ordained for him by Fate.
+
+The man's reckless courage won him undoubted respect from his
+associates; the head chief of the village alone possessed a greater
+influence. A house was built for him, and a wife and land given him; and
+within a year of his arrival on the island he signalised himself by a
+desperate attempt to cut-off a barque bound from Hobart to China as
+she lay becalmed off the island. The attempt failed, and many of his
+followers lost their lives. A few months later, however, he was more
+successful with a Fijian trading cutter, which, anchoring off the
+village, was carried during the night, plundered of her cargo of trade
+goods (much of which was firearms), and then burnt. This established his
+reputation.
+
+Five years passed. But few vessels touched at the island now, for it had
+a bad name, and those which did call were well armed and able to beat
+off an attack. Then one day, two years before the opening of this story,
+a trading schooner called off the village, and Martin, now more a savage
+native than a white man, was tempted by her defenceless condition, and
+by the money which the captain carried for trading purposes, to capture
+her, with the aid of the wild, savage people among whom he had cast
+his lot. Of what use the money would be to him he knew not. He was an
+outcast from civilisation, he was quickly forgetting his mother tongue;
+but his criminal instincts, and his desire to be a "big man" with the
+savages among whom he had lived for so long, led him to perpetrate this
+one particular crime. In the dead of night he led a party of natives
+on board the schooner, and massacred every one of her crew, save one
+Fijian, who, jumping overboard, swam to the shore, and was spared. A few
+months later this man escaped to a passing whaler, and the story of the
+massacre of the captain and crew of the _Fedora_ was made known to
+the commodore of the Australian station, who despatched a gunboat "to
+apprehend the murderers and bring them to Sydney for trial." Failing the
+apprehension of the murderers, the commander was instructed "to burn
+the village, and inflict such other punitive methods upon the people
+generally" as he deemed fit.
+
+So Commander Lempriere, of H.M. gunboat _Terrier_, went to work with
+a will. He meant to catch the murderers of the crew of the _Fedora_ if
+they possibly could be caught, and set to work in a manner that would
+have shocked the commodore. Instead of steaming into the bay on which
+the village was situated--and so giving the natives ample time to clear
+out into the mountains--he brought-to at dusk, when the ship was twenty
+miles from the land, and sent away the landing party in three boats. The
+Fijian--he who had escaped from the massacre of the _Fedora_--was the
+guide.
+
+"You know what to do, Chester," said Commander Lempriere to his first
+lieutenant as the boatswain's whistles piped the landing party away;
+"land on the north point, about two miles from the village, and surround
+it, and then wait till daylight. You can do it easily enough with thirty
+men, as it lies at the foot of the mountain, and there is no escape
+for the beggars unless they break through you and get into the bush. Be
+guided by the Fiji boy; and, as the Yankees say, 'no one wants a brass
+band with him when he's going duck-hunting,' so try and surround the
+village as quietly as possible. I'll see that none of them get away in
+their canoes. I'll work up abreast of the harbour by daylight."
+
+Guided by the boy, Lieutenant Chester and the landing party succeeded in
+getting ashore without being seen, and then made a long detour along the
+side of the mountain, so as to approach the village from behind. Then
+they waited till daylight, and all would have gone well had not his
+second in command, just as the order was given to advance, accidentally
+discharged his revolver. In an instant the village was alarmed, and some
+hundreds of natives, many of them armed with rifles, and led by Martin,
+sprang from their huts and made a short but determined resistance. Then,
+followed by their women and children, they broke through the bluejackets
+and escaped into the dense mountain jungle, where they were safe from
+pursuit. But the fire of the seamen had been deadly, for seven
+bodies were found; among them was a boy of about ten, whom the Fijian
+recognised as the renegade's son--a stray bullet had pierced his body
+as he sat crouching in terror in his father's house, and another
+had wounded his mother as she fled up the mountainside, for in the
+excitement and in the dim morning light it was impossible for the
+attacking party to tell women from men.
+
+Then by the commander's orders the village and fleet of canoes was
+fired, and a dozen or so of rockets went screaming and spitting
+among the thick mountain jungle, doing no damage to the natives, but
+terrifying them more than a heavy shell fire. *****
+
+"Let us away from here, Nuta," said Martin, "'tis not safe. In the hut
+by the side of the big pool we can rest till the ship has gone and our
+people return. And I shall bind thy arm up anew."
+
+The woman obeyed him silently, and in a few minutes they were skirting
+the side of the mountain by a narrow leaf-strewn path, taking the
+opposite direction to that followed by the two officers and bluejackets.
+Half an hour's walk brought them to the river bank, which was clothed
+with tall spear-grass. Still following the path, they presently emerged
+out into the open before a deep, spacious pool, at the further end of
+which was a dilapidated and deserted hut. Here the woman, faint with the
+pain of her wound, sank down, and Martin brought her water to drink, and
+then proceeded to re-examine and properly set her broken arm.
+
+*****
+
+The two officers--the second lieutenant and a ruddy-faced, fair-haired
+midshipman named Walters--had hardly proceeded a hundred yards along the
+beach, when the boy stopped.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Grayling, let us turn back and go the other way. There's a big
+river runs into the next bay, with a sort of a lake about a mile up; I
+saw it in the plan of the island, this morning. We might get a duck or
+two there, sir."
+
+"Any way you like," replied the officer, turning about, "and walking
+along the beach will be better than climbing up the mountain in the
+beastly heat for the sake of a few tough pigeons."
+
+Followed by the three bluejackets, who were armed with rifles, they set
+off along the hard white sand. In a few minutes they had rounded the
+headland on the north side and were out of sight of the ship. For quite
+a mile they tramped over the sand, till they came to the mouth of the
+river, which flowed swiftly and noisily over a shallow bar. A short
+search revealed a narrow path leading up along the bank, first through
+low thicket scrub, and then through high spear-grass. Further back, amid
+the dense forest, they could hear the deep notes of the wild pigeons,
+but as young Walters was intent on getting a duck they took no heed, but
+pressed steadily on.
+
+"By jove! what a jolly fine sheet of water!" whispered the midshipman as
+they emerged out from the long grass and saw the deep, placid pool lying
+before them; then he added disappointedly, "but not a sign of a duck."
+
+"Never mind," said Grayling consolingly, as he sat down on the bank and
+wiped his heated face, "we'll get plenty of pigeons, anyway. But first
+of all I'm going to have something to eat and drink. Open that bag,
+Williams, and you, Morris and Jones, keep your ears cocked and your
+eyes skinned. It's lovely and quiet here, but I wouldn't like to get a
+poisoned arrow into my back whilst drinking bottled beer."
+
+"I'm going to have a swim before I eat anything," said Walters, with a
+laugh. "Won't you, sir?" he asked, as he began undressing.
+
+"Looks very tempting," replied the officer, "but I'm too hot. Take my
+advice and wait a bit till you're cooler."
+
+The youngster only laughed, and, having stripped, took a header from
+the bank, and then swam out into the centre of the pool where it was
+deepest.
+
+"Oh, do come in, sir," he cried; "it's just splendid. There's a bit of a
+current here and the water is delightfully cool."
+
+*****
+
+Martin was aroused from his sleep by the sound or voices. He seized his
+rifle, bent over his wife, and whispered to her to awake; then crawling
+on his hands and knees from the hut he reached the bank and looked out,
+just as young Walters dived into the water.
+
+Hardened murderer as he was, he felt a thrill of horror, for he knew
+that the pool was a noted haunt of alligators, and to attempt to swim
+across it meant certain death.
+
+His wife touched his arm, and crouching beside him, her black eyes
+filled with a deadly hatred, she showed her white teeth and gave a low,
+hissing laugh.
+
+"Before one can count ten he will be in the jaws," she said, with savage
+joy.
+
+"Nuta," whispered Martin hoarsely, "'tis but a boy," and the veins stood
+out on his bronzed forehead as his hand closed tighter around his rifle.
+
+"What wouldst thou do, fool?" said the woman fiercely as she seized the
+weapon by the barrel; "think of thy son who died but yesterday... ah!
+ah! look! look!"
+
+Tearing the rifle from her grasp he followed the direction of her eyes;
+a swiftly-moving black snout showed less than thirty yards from the
+unconscious bather, who was now swimming leisurely to the bank.
+
+"He must not die," he muttered; "'tis but a boy!" Then turning to the
+woman he spoke aloud. "Quick! run to the forest; I shall follow."
+
+Again she sought to stay his hand; he dashed her aside, raised the rifle
+to his shoulder and took a quick but steady aim; a second later the loud
+report rang out, and the monster, struck on his bony head by the heavy
+bullet, sank in alarm; and then, ere Martin turned to run, two other
+shots disturbed the silence and he pitched forward on his face into the
+long grass.
+
+* * * * *
+
+"We just saw the beggar in time, sir," cried Jones. "I happened to look
+across and caught sight of him just as he fired at Mr. Walters. Me and
+Morris fired together."
+
+Grayling had sprung to his feet. "Are you hit, Walters?" he shouted.
+
+"No," replied the boy as he clambered up the bank; "what the deuce is
+the matter?"
+
+"A nigger took a pot-shot at you! Get under cover as quick as you can.
+Never mind your clothes!"
+
+Ten minutes passed. No sound broke the deathly stillness of the place;
+and then, cautiously creeping through the grass, the officer and Morris
+crawled round to where the latter had seen the man fall. They came upon
+him suddenly. He was lying partly on his face, with his eyes looking
+into theirs. Morris sprang up and covered him with his rifle.
+
+"I'm done for," Martin said quietly "my back is broken. Did the
+crocodile get the boy?"
+
+"Crocodile!" said Grayling in astonishment. "Did you fire at a
+crocodile? Who are you? Are you a white man?"
+
+"Never mind who I am," he gasped; "let me lie here. Look," and he
+pointed to a bullet-hole in his stomach; "it's gone clean through me and
+smashed my backbone. Let me stay as I am."
+
+He never spoke again, and died whilst a litter was being made to carry
+him down to the beach.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE RIVER OF DREAMS
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+There is a river I know which begins its life in a dark, sunless canyon
+high up amid the thick forest-clad spurs of the range which traverses
+the island from east to west. Here, lying deep and silent, is a pool,
+almost encompassed by huge boulders of smooth, black rock, piled
+confusedly together, yet preserving a certain continuity of outline
+where their bases touch the water's edge. Standing far up on the
+mountainside you can, from one certain spot alone, discern it two
+hundred feet below, and a thick mass of tangled vine and creepers
+stretching across its western side, through which the water flows on its
+journey to the sea.
+
+A narrow native path, used only by hunters of the wild pigs haunting the
+depths of the gloomy mountain forest, led me to it one close, steaming
+afternoon. I had been pigeon shooting along the crests of the ridges,
+and having shot as many birds as I could carry, I decided to make a
+short cut down to the level ground, where I was sure of finding water,
+resting awhile and then making my way home along the beach to the
+village.
+
+I had descended scarcely more than fifty yards when I struck the path--a
+thin, red line of sticky, clay soil, criss-crossed by countless roots of
+the great forest trees. A brief examination showed me that it had been
+trodden by the feet of natives quite recently; their footprints led
+downward. I followed, and presently came to a cleared space on the
+mountainside, a spot which had evidently been used by a party of hunters
+who had stayed there to cook some food, for the ashes of a fire lay in
+the ground-oven they had made. Laying down my gun, I went to the edge
+and peered cautiously over, and there far below I could see the pool,
+revealed by a shaft of sunlight which pierced down through the leafy
+canopy.
+
+Feeling sure that the track would lead me to the water, where I should
+have the satisfaction of a long drink, I set out again, and after
+narrowly escaping pitching down headlong, I at last reached the bottom,
+and, with a sigh of relief, threw down my gun and birds, and in another
+moment was drinking eagerly of the ice-cold, crystal water in one of the
+many minor pools which lay everywhere amid the boulders.
+
+After a few minutes' rest I collected some dead wood and lit a fire,
+being hungry as well as thirsty; then leaving it to burn down, I
+climbed one of the highest boulders to get a good view, and sighed with
+admiration at the scene--there lay before me a deep, almost circular
+sheet or water, about thirty yards across. Directly beneath me I could
+see the rocky bottom; fifty feet further out towards the centre it was
+of unfathomable blueness. On the opposite side a tree of enormous girth
+had fallen, long years before, yet it was still growing, for some of its
+mighty roots were embedded in the rich red soil of the mountain-side.
+
+As I looked, a fish, and then another, splashed just beside the fallen
+tree. Slipping down from the boulder, I made my way round, just in time
+to see scores of beautiful silvery fish, exactly like English grayling
+in shape, dart away from under the tree out into the deep water. In
+other streams of the island I had caught many of these fish, but had
+never seen any so high up inland; and, elated at the prospect of much
+future sport, I went on with my explorations.
+
+I was about to climb over the tree, when I discovered that I could pass
+underneath, for here and there it was supported on boulders standing
+out two or three feet above the water. On the other side a tiny stream
+trickled over a flat ledge of rock, to fall into a second but much
+smaller pool ten or fifteen feet below; beyond that lay a long, narrow
+but shallow stretch of crystal water, running between highly verdured
+banks, and further away in the distance I could hear the murmur of a
+waterfall.
+
+Turning over a stone with my foot, a crayfish darted off and tried
+to hide. There were scores, hundreds of them, everywhere--fine, fat,
+luscious fellows, and in ten minutes I had a dozen of the largest in my
+bag, to roast on the now glowing fire beside a juicy pigeon. Salt I had
+none, but I did possess a ship biscuit and a piece of cold baked taro,
+and with pigeon and crayfish, what more could a hungry man desire?
+
+The intense solitude of the place, too, was enchanting. Now and then
+the booming note of a pigeon, or the soft _coo-coo_ of a ringdove, would
+break the silence; overhead there was a sky of spotless blue; an hour
+before I had sweltered under a brazen sun; here, under the mountain
+shade, though there was not a breath of wind to stir a leaf, it was
+surprisingly cool.
+
+To lean against the soft white moss clothing the buttresses of a giant
+maruhia-tree and smoke a pipe, was delightful after a tramp of six
+or eight miles through a mountain forest; and to know that the return
+journey would be through easy country along the banks of a new river was
+better still.
+
+I set off with a feeling of joyful expectancy, taking a last glance at
+the beautiful little lake--I meant to return with some native friends to
+fish it on the morrow--ere I struck into the forest once more to pick up
+the path.
+
+Every now and then I caught glimpses of the river, now gradually
+widening as it was joined by other streamlets on either side. Some of
+these I had to wade through, others I crossed on stones or fallen trees.
+
+Half-way to the beach I came to a broad stretch of shallow water covered
+with purple water-lilies; three small ducks, with alarmed quacking, shot
+upward from where they had been resting or feeding under the bank, and
+vanished over the tree-tops; and a sudden commotion in the water showed
+me that there were many fish. Its beautiful clearness tempted me to
+strip off and swim about the floating garden resting on its bosom, and
+I was just about to undress when I heard a shot quite near. The moment
+after, I fired in return, and gave a loud hail; then the high reedy cane
+grass on the other side parted, and a man and a woman came out, stared
+at me, and then laughed in welcome. They were one Nalik and his wife,
+people living in my own village. The man carried a long single-barrelled
+German shot-gun, the woman a basket of pigeons. Stepping down the bank,
+they waded across and joined me.
+
+"How came ye here?" they asked, as we sat down together to smoke.
+
+I told them, and then learnt that the river ran into the sea through the
+mangroves at a spot many miles from the village. Then I asked about the
+big pool. Nalik nodded.
+
+"Ay, 'tis deep, very deep, and hath many fish in it. But it is a place
+of _jelon_ (haunted) and we always pass to one side. But here where we
+now sit is a fine place for fish. And there are many wild pigs in the
+forest."
+
+"Let us come here to-morrow. Let us start ere the sun is up, and stay
+here and fish and shoot till the day be gone."
+
+"Why not?" said Sivi his wife, puffing her cigarette, "and sleep
+here when night comes, for under the banks are many thousand _unkar_
+(crayfish), and I and some other women shall catch them by torchlight."
+
+And that was how I began to learn this island river and its ways, so
+that now it has become the river ot my dreams.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+But with the dawn there came disappointment keen and bitter, for in the
+night the north-east trade had died away, and now wild, swooping rain
+squalls pelted and drenched the island from the westward, following each
+other in quick succession, and whipping the smooth water inside the
+reef into a blurred and churning sheet of foam, and then roaring away up
+through the mountain passes and canyons.
+
+With my gear all ready beside me, I sat on the matted floor of the
+hut in which I lived, smoking my pipe and listening to the fury of the
+squalls as the force of the wind bent and swayed the thatched roof, and
+made the cinnet-tied rafters and girders creak and work to and fro under
+the strain. Suddenly the wicker-work door on the lee side was opened,
+and Nalik jumped in, dripping with rain, but smiling good-naturedly as
+usual.
+
+"_Woa!_" he said, taking his long, straight black hair in his hands and
+squeezing out the water, "'tis no day for us."
+
+I ventured an opinion that it might clear off soon. He shook his head as
+he held out his brown hand for a stiff tot of Hollands, tossed it off,
+and then sat down to open a small bundle he carried, and which contained
+a dry jumper and pair of dungaree pants.
+
+Then quickly divesting himself of the soddened girdle of grass around
+his loins, he put on the European garments, filled his pipe, and began
+to talk.
+
+"The wind will soon cease, for these squalls from the westward last not
+long at this time of the year; but when the wind ceases, then comes rain
+for two days sometimes--not heavy rain such as this, but soft rain as
+fine as hair, and all the forest is wetted and the mountain paths are
+dangerous even to our bare feet, and the pigeons give no note, and the
+sun is dead. So we cannot go to the river to-day. To-morrow perhaps it
+may be fine; therefore let us sit and be content."
+
+So we sat and were content, remaining indoors in my own house, or
+visiting those of our neighbours, eating, drinking, smoking, and
+talking. I was the only white man on the island, and during my three
+months' residence had got to know every man, woman, child, and dog
+in the village. And my acquaintance with the dogs was very extensive,
+inasmuch as every one of the thirty-four families owned at least ten
+dogs, all of which had taken kindly to me from the very first. They were
+the veriest mongrels that ever were seen in canine form, but in spite of
+that were full of pluck when pig hunting. (I once saw seven or eight of
+them tackle a lean, savage old wild boar in a dried-up taro swamp; two
+of them were ripped up, the rest hung on to him by his ears and neck,
+and were dragged along as if they were as light as feathers, until a
+native drove a heavy ironwood spear clean through the creature's loins.)
+
+During the evening my native friends, in response to my inquiries about
+the river, told me that it certainly took its rise from the deep pool I
+have before described, and that had I made a more careful examination I
+should have seen several tiny rivulets, hidden by the dense undergrowth,
+flowing into it from both sides of the gorge. During severe rains an
+immense volume of muddy water would rush down; yet, strangely enough,
+the two kinds of fish which inhabited it were just as plentiful as ever
+as soon as the water cleared.
+
+About four o'clock in the morning, when I was sound in slumber, a voice
+called to me to awaken. It was Nalik.
+
+"Come out and look."
+
+I lifted (not opened) my Venetian-sashed door of pandanus leaf, and
+stepped out.
+
+What a glorious change! The rain had ceased, and the shore and sea lay
+bright and clear under a myriad-starred sky of deepest blue; the white
+line of surf tumbling on the barrier reef a mile away seemed almost
+within stone-throw. A gentle breeze swayed the fronds of the coco-palms
+above us, and already the countless thousands of sea birds, whose
+"rookery" was on two small islets within the reef and near the village,
+were awake, and filling the air with their clamour as they, like us,
+prepared to start off for their day's fishing.
+
+Our party consisted of--
+
+(1) Nalik, his wife and five dogs.
+
+(2) Three young women, each with several dogs.
+
+(3) Old Sru, chief of the district, with numerous dogs.
+
+(4) Two boys and three girls, who carried baskets of food, crayfish
+nets, boar-spears, &c. Large number of dogs, male and female.
+
+(5) The white man, to whom, as soon as he appeared, the whole of the
+dogs immediately attached themselves.
+
+(6) Small boy of ten, named Toka, the terror of the village for
+his illimitable impudence and unsurpassed devilry. But as he was a
+particular friend of the white man (and could not be prevented) he was
+allowed to come. He had three dogs.
+
+
+Before we started old Sru, Nalik, and myself had some Hollands, two
+bottles of which were also placed in the care of Nalik's wife. The
+"devil," as Toka was called, mimicked us as we drank, smacked his lips
+and rubbed one hand up and down his stomach. One of the big girls cuffed
+him for being saucy. He retaliated by darting between her legs and
+throwing her down upon the sand.
+
+Presently we started, the women and children going ahead, with the
+exception of the "devil," who stuck close to me, and carried my Snider
+in one hand and my double-barrel muzzle-loader in the other.
+
+For the first two or three miles our way lay along the hard, white
+beach, whose sands were covered everywhere by millions of tiny,
+blue-backed, red-legged soldier crabs, moving to and fro in companies,
+regiments, and divisions, hastening to burrow before the daylight
+revealed their presence to their dreaded enemies--the golden-winged sand
+plovers and the greedy sooty terns, who yet knew how to find them by the
+myriad small nodules of sand they left to betray their hiding-place.
+
+Oh, the sweet, sweet smell of the forest as it is borne down from the
+mountains and carried seaward, to gladden, it may be, the heart of some
+hard-worked, broken-spirited sailor, who, in a passing ship, sees from
+aloft this fair, fair island with its smiling green of lear, and soft,
+heaving valleys, above the long lines of curving beach, showing white
+and bright in the morning sun! And, as you walk, the surf upon the reef
+for ever calls and calk; sometimes loudly with a deep, resonant boom,
+but mostly with a soft, faint murmur like the low-breathed sigh of a
+woman when she lies her cheek upon her lover's breast and looks upward
+to his face with eyes aglow and lips trembling for his kiss.
+
+Far, far above a feint note. 'Tis but a snow-white tropic bird,
+suspended in mid-air on motionless wing, his long scarlet pendrices
+almost invisible at such a height. Presently, as he discerns you, he
+lets his aerial, slender form sink and sink, without apparent motion,
+till he is within fifty feet, and then he turns his graceful head from
+side to side, and inquiringly surveys you with his full, soft black eye.
+For a moment or two he flutters his white wings gently and noiselessly,
+and you can imagine you hear his timid heart-beats; then, satisfied with
+his scrutiny, his fairy, graceful form floats upward into space again,
+and is lost to view.
+
+Leaving the beach and the sound of the droning surf behind us we turned
+to the starboard hand, and struck through the narrow strip of littoral
+towards the mountains. For the first mile or so our way was through a
+grove of pandanus-palms, nearly every one of which was in full fruit; on
+the branches were sitting hundreds of small sooty terns, who watched
+our progress beneath with the calm indifference borne of the utter
+confidence of immunity of danger from any human being.
+
+Once through the sandy stretch on which the pandanus loves to grow,
+we came to the outlier of the mountain lands--low, gently undulating
+ridges, covered on both sides of the narrow track with dense thickets
+of pineapples, every plant bearing a fruit half-matured, which, when
+ripened, was never touched by the hand of man, for the whole island was,
+in places, covered with thickets such as this, and the wild pig only
+revelled among them.
+
+"They grow thickly," I said to Nalik.
+
+"Ay, _tahina_* they grow thickly and wild," he replied, with some
+inflection of sadness in his voice; "long, long ago, before my father's
+father lived, there was a great town here. That was long before we of
+this land had ever seen a white man. And now we who are left are but as
+dead leaves."
+
+     * Friend.
+
+"How came it so to be?"
+
+He shook his head. "I cannot tell. I only know that once we of this land
+numbered many, many thousands, and now we are but hundreds. Here, where
+we now walk, was once a great town of houses with stone foundations; if
+ye cut away the _fara_ (pineapples) thou wilt see the lower stones lying
+in the ground."
+
+We pressed onward and upward into the deeper forest, then turned
+downwards along a narrow path, carpeted thick with fallen leaves, damp
+and soft to the foot, for the sun's rays never pierced through the dense
+foliage overhead. And then we came out upon a fair, green sward with
+nine stately coco-palms clustered, their branches drooping over the
+river of my dreams, which lay before us with open, waiting bosom.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+Under the shade of the nine cocos we made our camp, and old Sru and the
+women and children at once set to work to build a "house" to protect us
+in case it rained during the nights. Very quickly was the house built.
+The "devil" was sent up the cocos to lop off branches, which, as they
+fell, were woven into thatch by the deft, eager hands of the women, who
+were supervised by Sivi, Nalik's handsome wife, amid much chatter and
+laughter, each one trying to outvie the other in speed, and all anxious
+to follow Nalik and myself to the river.
+
+The place was well chosen. For nearly a hundred yards there was a clear
+stretch of water flowing between low, grassy banks on which were growing
+a few scattered pandanus-palms--the screw pine. Half a mile distant, a
+jagged, irregular mountain-peak raised high its emerald-hued head in the
+clear sunshine, and from every lofty tree on both sides of the stream
+there came the continuous call of the gentle wood-doves and the great
+grey pigeons.
+
+With Nalik and myself there came old Sru and the imp Toka, who at once
+set to work and found us some small crayfish for bait. Our rods were
+slender bamboos, about twelve feet long, with lines of the same length
+made of twisted banana fibre as fine as silk, and equally as strong. My
+hook was an ordinary flatted Kirby, about half the size of an English
+whiting hook; Nalik preferred one of his own manufacture, made from a
+strip of tortoise-shell, barbless and highly polished.
+
+Taking our stand at a place where the softly-flowing current eddied and
+curled around some black boulders of rock whose surfaces were but a few
+inches above the clear, crystal stream, we quickly baited our hooks and
+cast together, the old chief and the boy throwing in some crushed-up
+crayfish shells at the same time. Before five seconds had passed my
+brown-skinned comrade laughed as his thin line tautened out suddenly,
+and in another instant he swung out a quivering streak of shining blue
+and silver, and deftly caught it with his left hand; almost at the
+same moment my rod was strained hard by a larger fish, which darted in
+towards the bank.
+
+"First to thee, Nalik; but biggest to the _rebelli_"* cried old Sru,
+as with some difficulty--for my rod was too slight for such a fish--I
+landed a lovely four-pounder on the grass.
+
+     * White man.
+
+Nalik laughed again, and before I had cleared my hook from the jaw of
+my prize he had taken another and then a third, catching each one in his
+left hand with incredible swiftness and throwing them to the boy. The
+women and girls on the opposite bank laughed and chaffed me, and urged
+me to hasten, or Nalik would catch five ere I landed another. But the
+_rebelli_ took no heed of their merriment, for he was quite content to
+let a few minutes go whilst he examined the glistening beauty which lay
+quivering and gasping on the sward. It was nearly eighteen inches in
+length, its back from the tip of the upper jaw to the tail a brilliant
+dark blue flecked with tiny specks of red, the sides a burnished silver,
+changing, as the belly was reached, to a glistening white. The pectoral
+and lower fins were a pale blue, flecked with somewhat larger spots
+of brighter red than those on the back, and the tail showed the same
+colouring. In shape it was much like a grayling, particularly about
+the head; and altogether a more beautiful fresh-water fish I have never
+seen.
+
+We fished for an hour or more, and caught three or four dozen of this
+particular fish as well as eight or nine dark-scaled, stodgy bream,
+which haunted the centre of the pool where the water was deep. Then as
+the sun grew fiercer they ceased to bite, and we ceased to tempt them;
+so we lay down and rested and smoked, whilst the women and children made
+a ground-oven and prepared some of the fish for cooking. Putting aside
+the largest--which was reserved for the old chief and myself--Nalik's
+kindly, gentle-voiced wife, watched the children roll each fish up in
+a wrapper of green coconut leaf and lay them carefully upon the glowing
+bed of stones in the oven, together with some scores of long, slender
+green bananas, to serve as a vegetable in place of taro or yams, which
+would take a much longer time to cook. On the top of all was placed the
+largest fish, and then the entire oven was rapidly covered up with wild
+banana leaves in the shape of a mound.
+
+The moment Nalik and I had laid down our rods, and whilst the oven was
+being prepared, Toka and the two other boys sprang into the water at
+one end of the pool and began to disturb the bottom with their feet. The
+young girls and women, each carrying a small finely-meshed scoop-net,
+joined them, and in a tew minutes they had filled a basket with
+crayfish, some of which were ten inches in length, and weighed over a
+pound, their tails especially being very large and fleshy.
+
+"Shall we boil or bake them?" asked Nalik as the basketful was brought
+up to me for examination.
+
+"Boil them," I replied, for I had brought with me several pounds of
+coarse salt taken from our wrecked ship's harness cask and carefully
+dried in the sun, and a boiled crayfish or crab is better than one
+baked--and spoiled.
+
+A tall, graceful girl, named Seia, came forward with a large wooden
+bowl, nearly eighteen inches in diameter at the top, and two feet in
+depth--no light weight even to lift, for at its rim it was over an inch
+thick. Placing it on the ground in front of Sru and myself, she motioned
+to the other girls to bring water. They brought her about two gallons
+in buckets made of the looped-up leaves of the taro plant, and poured it
+into the vessel; then Nalik and old Sru, with rough tongs formed of the
+midrib of a coconut branch, whipped up eight or ten large red-hot stones
+from a fire near by, and dropped them into the vessel, the water in
+which at once began to boil and send up a volume of steam as Seia tipped
+the entire basketful of crustacean delicacies into the bowl, together
+with some handfuls of salt. Then a closely-woven mat was placed over the
+top and tied round it so as to keep in the heat--that is the way they
+boil food in the South Seas with a wooden pot!
+
+From time to time during the next quarter of an hour more red-hot stones
+were dropped into the bowl until old Sru pronounced the contents to be
+_tunua_, _i.e._, well and truly cooked, and then whilst the now bright
+red crayfish were laid out to cool upon platters of green woven coconut
+leaf, the first oven of fish and bananas was opened.
+
+What a delightful meal it was! The fat, luscious fish, cooked in their
+own juices, each one deftly ridden of its compact coating of silvery
+scales by the quick hands of the women, and then turned out hot and
+smoking upon a platter of leaf, with half a dozen green, baked bananas
+for bread! Such fish, and so cooked, surely fall to the lot of few. Your
+City professional diner who loves to instruct us in the daily papers
+about "how to dine" cannot know anything about the real enjoyment of
+eating. He is _blas�_ he regulates his stomach to his costume and to
+the season, and he eats as fashion dictates he should eat, and fills
+his long-suffering stomach with nickety, tin-pot, poisonous "delicacies"
+which he believes are excellent because they are expensive and are
+prepared by a _chef_ whose income is ten times as much as his own.
+
+So we ate our fish and bananas, and then followed on with the crayfish,
+the women and children shelling them for us as fast as we could eat, the
+largest and fittest being placed before the old chief and the white man.
+And then for dessert we had a basket of red-ripe wild mangoes, with a
+great smooth-leaved pineapple as big as a big man's head, and showing
+red and green and yellow, and smelling fresh and sweet with the rain of
+the previous night. Near by where we sat was a pile of freshly-husked
+young coconuts, which a smiling-faced young girl opened for us as we
+wanted a drink, carefully pouring out upon the ground all the liquid
+that remained after Sru and myself had drank, and then putting the empty
+shells, with their delicate lining of alabaster flesh, into the fire to
+be consumed, for no one not of chiefly rank must partake even of that
+which is cast aside by a chief or his guests.
+
+Our first meal of the day finished, we--that is, Nalik, Sru, and
+myself--lay down under the shade or the newly-built thatched roof and
+smoked our pipes in content, whilst the women and children, attended by
+the dogs, bathed in the deepest part of the pool, shouting, laughing,
+and splashing and diving till they were tired. The dogs, mongrel as they
+were, enjoyed the fun as much as their masters, biting and worrying each
+other playfully as they swam round and round, and then crawling out upon
+the bank, they ran to and fro upon the grassy sward till they too were
+glad to rest under the shade of the clump of coco-palms.
+
+In the afternoon--leaving the rest of our party to amuse themselves by
+catching crayfish and to make traps for wild pigs--Sru, Nalik, Toka, and
+myself set out towards _the_ pool at the head of the river, where, I
+was assured, we were sure to get a pig or two by nightfall. The dogs
+evidently were equally as certain of this as Nalik and Sru, for the
+moment they saw the two men pick up their heavy hunting-spears they
+sprang to their feet and began howling and yelping in concert till they
+were beaten into silence by the women. I brought with me a short Snider
+carbine--the best and handiest weapon to stop a wild pig at a short
+range--and a double-barrelled muzzle-loading shot-gun. The latter I gave
+to the "devil" to carry, and promised him that he should fire at least
+five shots from it at pigeons or mountain fowl before we returned to the
+village.
+
+Following a narrow footpath which led along the right bank of the
+stream, we struck directly into the heart of the mountain forest, and in
+a few minutes the voices, shouts, and laughter of our companions sounded
+as if they were miles and miles away. Now and then as we got deeper
+into the dark, cool shade caused by the leafed dome above, we heard
+the shrill cry of the long-legged mountain cock--a cry which I can
+only describe as an attempt at the ordinary barnyard rooster's
+"cock-a-doodle-do" combined with the scream of a cat when its tail is
+trodden upon by a heavy-booted foot. Here in these silent, darkened
+aisles of the forest it sounded weird and uncanny in the extreme, and
+aroused an intense desire to knock the creature over; but I forebore to
+fire, although we once had a view of a fine bird, attended by a hen and
+chicks, scurrying across the leaf-strewn ground not fifty feet away.
+Everywhere around us the great grey pigeons were sounding their booming
+notes from the branches overhead, but of these too we took no heed, for
+a shot would have alarmed every wild pig within a mile of us.
+
+An hour's march brought us to the crest of a spur covered with a species
+of white cedar, whose branches were literally swarming with doves and
+pigeons, feeding upon small, sweet-scented berries about the size of
+English haws. Here we rested awhile, the dogs behaving splendidly by
+lying down quietly and scarcely moving as they watched me taking off my
+boots and putting on a pair of cinnet (coir fibre) sandals. Just beneath
+us was a deep canyon, at the bottom of which, so Nalik said, was a tiny
+rivulet which ran through banks covered with wild yams and _ti_ plants.
+
+"There be nothing so sweet to the mouth of the mountain pig as the thick
+roots of the _ti_," said Nalik to me in a low voice. "They come here
+to root them up at this time of the year, before the wild yams are well
+grown, and the _ti_ both fattens and sweetens. Let us start."
+
+At a sign from Sru, Nalilc and the boy Toka, followed by the dogs, went
+off towards the head of the canyon, so as to drive down to the old man
+and myself any pigs which might be feeding above, whilst we slipped
+quietly down the side of the spur to the bank of the rivulet. Sru
+carried my gun (which I had loaded with ball) as well as his spear. I
+had my Snider.
+
+We had not long to wait, for presently we heard the dogs give cry, and
+the silence of the forest was broken by the demoniac yells of Nalik and
+the "devil," who had started a party of two boars and half a dozen
+sows with their half-grown progeny, which were lying down around the
+buttressed sides of a great tika-tree. They (the pigs) came down the
+side of the rivulet with a tremendous rush, right on top of us in fact.
+I fired at the leader--a great yellow, razorbacked boar with enormous
+tusks--missed him, but hit a young sow who was running on his port side.
+Sru, with truer aim, fired both barrels of his gun in quick succession,
+and the second boar dropped with a bullet through both shoulders, and a
+dear little black and yellow striped four-months'-old porker went under
+to the other barrel with a broken spine. Then in another three or four
+minutes we were kicking and "belting" about half of the dogs, who,
+maddened by the smell of blood from the wounded animals, sprang upon
+them and tried to tear them to pieces; the rest of the pack (Heaven save
+the term!) had followed the flying swine down the canyon; they turned up
+at the camp some three or four hours later with bloodied jaws and gorged
+to distension.
+
+The boar which Sru had shot was lean enough in all conscience, but
+the young sow and the four-months'-old porker were as round-bodied as
+barrels, and as fat as only pigs can be fat. After disembowelling them,
+we hoisted the carcasses up under the branch of a tree out of the reach
+of the dogs, and sent Toka back to the camp to tell the women to come
+and carry them away.
+
+Then, as we had still another hour or two of daylight, and I longed to
+see the deep, deep pool at the head of the river, even if it were but
+for a few moments, the old chief Nalik and I started off.
+
+It lay before us with many, many bars of golden sunlight striking down
+through the trees and trying to penetrate its calm, placid bosom with
+their warm, loving rays. Far below the sound of the waterfall sung to
+the dying day, and, as we listened, there came to us the dulled, distant
+murmur of the combing breakers upon the reef five miles away.
+
+"'Tis a fair, good place this, is it not?" whispered Nalik, as he sat
+beside me--"a fair, good place, though it be haunted by the spirits."
+
+"Aye, a fair, sweet place indeed," I answered, "and this pool aid the
+river below shall for ever be in my dreams when I am far away from
+here."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of "Martin Of Nitendi"; and The River Of
+Dreams, by Louis Becke
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARTIN OF NITENDI ***
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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+
+<!DOCTYPE html
+   PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+   "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" >
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <meta content="pg2html (binary v0.17)" name="linkgenerator" />
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
+    <title>
+      "Martin of Nitendi"; and the River Of Dreams, by Louis Becke
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
+    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
+    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
+    blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    div.fig    { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
+    div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; }
+    .figleft   {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;}
+    .figright  {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;}
+    .pagenum   {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal;
+               margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%;
+               text-align: right;}
+    pre        { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;}
+
+</style>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of "Martin Of Nitendi"; and The River Of Dreams, by
+Louis Becke
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: "Martin Of Nitendi"; and The River Of Dreams
+       1901
+
+Author: Louis Becke
+
+Release Date: February 18, 2008 [EBook #24641]
+Last Updated: March 8, 2018
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARTIN OF NITENDI ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      &ldquo;MARTIN OF NITENDI"<br /> <br /> and THE RIVER OF DREAMS
+    </h1>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      By Louis Becke
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <h4>
+      T. Fisher Unwin, 1901
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      Contents
+    </h2>
+    <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto">
+      <tr>
+        <td>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>"MARTIN OF NITENDI"</b></big> </a>
+          </p>
+          <br />
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <big><b>THE RIVER OF DREAMS</b></big> </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> I </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> II </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> III </a>
+          </p>
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;MARTIN OF NITENDI&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Half-way up the side of the mountain which overlooked the waters of the
+      little land-locked harbour there was a space clear of timber. Huge, jagged
+      rocks, whose surfaces were covered with creepers and grey moss, protruded
+      from the soil, and on the highest of these a man was lying at full length,
+      looking at the gunboat anchored half a mile away. He was clothed in a
+      girdle of <i>ti</i> leaves only; his feet were bare, cut, and bleeding;
+      round his waist was strapped a leather belt with an empty cartridge pouch;
+      his brawny right hand grasped a Snider rifle; his head-covering was a
+      roughly made cap of coconut-nut leaf, with a projecting peak, designed to
+      shield his blood-shot, savage eyes from the sun. Yet he had been a White
+      Man. For nearly an hour he had been watching, ever since the dawn had
+      broken. Far below him, thin, wavering curls of pale blue smoke were
+      arising from the site of the native village, fired by the bluejackets on
+      the previous evening. The ruins of his own house he could discern by the
+      low stone wall surrounding it; as for the native huts which, the day
+      before, had clustered so thickly around his own dwelling, there was now no
+      trace save heaps of grey ashes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A boat put off from the ship, and as the yellow-bladed oars flashed in the
+      sunlight the man drew his rifle close up to his side and his eyes gleamed
+      with a deadly hatred.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Officers' shootin' party,&rdquo; he muttered, as he watched the boat ground on
+      the beach and three men, carrying guns, step out and walk up the beach&mdash;&ldquo;officer's
+      shootin' party. Christ A'mighty! I'd like to pot every one o' the swine.
+      An' I could do it, too, I could do it. But wot's the use o' bein' a
+      blarsted fool for nothin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The boat's crew got out and walked about the smouldering remains of the
+      village, seeking for curios which had escaped the fire, pausing awhile to
+      look at a large mound of sand, under which lay seven of the natives killed
+      by the landing-party on the preceding day. Then, satisfied that there was
+      nothing to be had, the coxswain grumblingly ordered the men back to the
+      boat, which pushed off and returned to the ship.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The wild, naked creature lying upon the boulder saw the boat pull off with
+      a sigh of satisfaction. There was, under the ashes of his house, and
+      buried still further under the soil, a 50-lb. beef barrel filled with
+      Chilian and Mexican dollars. And he had feared that the bluejackets might
+      rake about the ashes and find it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He rose and stepped down the jagged boulder to where, at the base, the
+      thick carpet of dead leaves, fallen from the giant trees which encompassed
+      it, silenced even the tread of his naked feet. Seated against the bole of
+      a many-buttressed <i>vi</i>-tree was a native woman, whose right arm,
+      shattered by a bullet and bound up in the spathe of a coconut-palm, was
+      suspended from her neck by a strip of soft bark. She looked at him
+      inquiringly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A boat has come ashore,&rdquo; he said in the native tongue, &ldquo;but none of the
+      white men are seeking for my money.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thy money!&rdquo; The woman's eyes blazed with a deadly fury. &ldquo;What is thy
+      money to me? Is thy money more to us than the blood of our child? O, thou
+      coward heart!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Grasping his Snider by the tip of the barrel the man looked at his wife
+      with sullen, dulled ferocity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am no coward, Nuta. Thou dost not understand. I wish to save the money,
+      but I wish for revenge as well. Yet what can I do? I am but one man, and
+      have but one cartridge left.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      This naked, sun-tanned being was one of the most desperate and
+      blood-stained beachcombers that had ever cursed the fair isles of the
+      South Pacific, and in those days there were many, notably on Pleasant
+      Island and in the Gilbert Group. Put ashore at Nitendi from a Hobart Town
+      whaler for mutinous conduct, he had disassociated himself for ever from
+      civilisation. Perhaps the convict strain in his blood had something to do
+      with his vicious nature, for both his father and mother had &ldquo;left their
+      country for their country's good,&rdquo; and his early training had been given
+      him under the shadow of the gallows and within the swishing sound of the
+      &ldquo;cat&rdquo; as it lacerated the backs of the wretched beings doomed to suffer
+      under the awful convict system.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From the simple, loafing beachcomber stage of life to that of a leader of
+      the natives in their tribal wars was a simple but natural transition, and
+      Jim Martin, son of a convict father and mother whose forbears were of the
+      scum of Liverpool, and knew the precincts of a prison better than the open
+      air, followed the path ordained for him by Fate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man's reckless courage won him undoubted respect from his associates;
+      the head chief of the village alone possessed a greater influence. A house
+      was built for him, and a wife and land given him; and within a year of his
+      arrival on the island he signalised himself by a desperate attempt to
+      cut-off a barque bound from Hobart to China as she lay becalmed off the
+      island. The attempt failed, and many of his followers lost their lives. A
+      few months later, however, he was more successful with a Fijian trading
+      cutter, which, anchoring off the village, was carried during the night,
+      plundered of her cargo of trade goods (much of which was firearms), and
+      then burnt. This established his reputation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Five years passed. But few vessels touched at the island now, for it had a
+      bad name, and those which did call were well armed and able to beat off an
+      attack. Then one day, two years before the opening of this story, a
+      trading schooner called off the village, and Martin, now more a savage
+      native than a white man, was tempted by her defenceless condition, and by
+      the money which the captain carried for trading purposes, to capture her,
+      with the aid of the wild, savage people among whom he had cast his lot. Of
+      what use the money would be to him he knew not. He was an outcast from
+      civilisation, he was quickly forgetting his mother tongue; but his
+      criminal instincts, and his desire to be a &ldquo;big man&rdquo; with the savages
+      among whom he had lived for so long, led him to perpetrate this one
+      particular crime. In the dead of night he led a party of natives on board
+      the schooner, and massacred every one of her crew, save one Fijian, who,
+      jumping overboard, swam to the shore, and was spared. A few months later
+      this man escaped to a passing whaler, and the story of the massacre of the
+      captain and crew of the <i>Fedora</i> was made known to the commodore of
+      the Australian station, who despatched a gunboat &ldquo;to apprehend the
+      murderers and bring them to Sydney for trial.&rdquo; Failing the apprehension of
+      the murderers, the commander was instructed &ldquo;to burn the village, and
+      inflict such other punitive methods upon the people generally&rdquo; as he
+      deemed fit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So Commander Lempriere, of H.M. gunboat <i>Terrier</i>, went to work with
+      a will. He meant to catch the murderers of the crew of the <i>Fedora</i>
+      if they possibly could be caught, and set to work in a manner that would
+      have shocked the commodore. Instead of steaming into the bay on which the
+      village was situated&mdash;and so giving the natives ample time to clear
+      out into the mountains&mdash;he brought-to at dusk, when the ship was
+      twenty miles from the land, and sent away the landing party in three
+      boats. The Fijian&mdash;he who had escaped from the massacre of the <i>Fedora</i>&mdash;was
+      the guide.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know what to do, Chester,&rdquo; said Commander Lempriere to his first
+      lieutenant as the boatswain's whistles piped the landing party away; &ldquo;land
+      on the north point, about two miles from the village, and surround it, and
+      then wait till daylight. You can do it easily enough with thirty men, as
+      it lies at the foot of the mountain, and there is no escape for the
+      beggars unless they break through you and get into the bush. Be guided by
+      the Fiji boy; and, as the Yankees say, 'no one wants a brass band with him
+      when he's going duck-hunting,' so try and surround the village as quietly
+      as possible. I'll see that none of them get away in their canoes. I'll
+      work up abreast of the harbour by daylight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Guided by the boy, Lieutenant Chester and the landing party succeeded in
+      getting ashore without being seen, and then made a long detour along the
+      side of the mountain, so as to approach the village from behind. Then they
+      waited till daylight, and all would have gone well had not his second in
+      command, just as the order was given to advance, accidentally discharged
+      his revolver. In an instant the village was alarmed, and some hundreds of
+      natives, many of them armed with rifles, and led by Martin, sprang from
+      their huts and made a short but determined resistance. Then, followed by
+      their women and children, they broke through the bluejackets and escaped
+      into the dense mountain jungle, where they were safe from pursuit. But the
+      fire of the seamen had been deadly, for seven bodies were found; among
+      them was a boy of about ten, whom the Fijian recognised as the renegade's
+      son&mdash;a stray bullet had pierced his body as he sat crouching in
+      terror in his father's house, and another had wounded his mother as she
+      fled up the mountainside, for in the excitement and in the dim morning
+      light it was impossible for the attacking party to tell women from men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then by the commander's orders the village and fleet of canoes was fired,
+      and a dozen or so of rockets went screaming and spitting among the thick
+      mountain jungle, doing no damage to the natives, but terrifying them more
+      than a heavy shell fire. *****
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us away from here, Nuta,&rdquo; said Martin, &ldquo;'tis not safe. In the hut by
+      the side of the big pool we can rest till the ship has gone and our people
+      return. And I shall bind thy arm up anew.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The woman obeyed him silently, and in a few minutes they were skirting the
+      side of the mountain by a narrow leaf-strewn path, taking the opposite
+      direction to that followed by the two officers and bluejackets. Half an
+      hour's walk brought them to the river bank, which was clothed with tall
+      spear-grass. Still following the path, they presently emerged out into the
+      open before a deep, spacious pool, at the further end of which was a
+      dilapidated and deserted hut. Here the woman, faint with the pain of her
+      wound, sank down, and Martin brought her water to drink, and then
+      proceeded to re-examine and properly set her broken arm.
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      The two officers&mdash;the second lieutenant and a ruddy-faced,
+      fair-haired midshipman named Walters&mdash;had hardly proceeded a hundred
+      yards along the beach, when the boy stopped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, Mr. Grayling, let us turn back and go the other way. There's a big
+      river runs into the next bay, with a sort of a lake about a mile up; I saw
+      it in the plan of the island, this morning. We might get a duck or two
+      there, sir.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Any way you like,&rdquo; replied the officer, turning about, &ldquo;and walking along
+      the beach will be better than climbing up the mountain in the beastly heat
+      for the sake of a few tough pigeons.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Followed by the three bluejackets, who were armed with rifles, they set
+      off along the hard white sand. In a few minutes they had rounded the
+      headland on the north side and were out of sight of the ship. For quite a
+      mile they tramped over the sand, till they came to the mouth of the river,
+      which flowed swiftly and noisily over a shallow bar. A short search
+      revealed a narrow path leading up along the bank, first through low
+      thicket scrub, and then through high spear-grass. Further back, amid the
+      dense forest, they could hear the deep notes of the wild pigeons, but as
+      young Walters was intent on getting a duck they took no heed, but pressed
+      steadily on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By jove! what a jolly fine sheet of water!&rdquo; whispered the midshipman as
+      they emerged out from the long grass and saw the deep, placid pool lying
+      before them; then he added disappointedly, &ldquo;but not a sign of a duck.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind,&rdquo; said Grayling consolingly, as he sat down on the bank and
+      wiped his heated face, &ldquo;we'll get plenty of pigeons, anyway. But first of
+      all I'm going to have something to eat and drink. Open that bag, Williams,
+      and you, Morris and Jones, keep your ears cocked and your eyes skinned.
+      It's lovely and quiet here, but I wouldn't like to get a poisoned arrow
+      into my back whilst drinking bottled beer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm going to have a swim before I eat anything,&rdquo; said Walters, with a
+      laugh. &ldquo;Won't you, sir?&rdquo; he asked, as he began undressing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Looks very tempting,&rdquo; replied the officer, &ldquo;but I'm too hot. Take my
+      advice and wait a bit till you're cooler.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The youngster only laughed, and, having stripped, took a header from the
+      bank, and then swam out into the centre of the pool where it was deepest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, do come in, sir,&rdquo; he cried; &ldquo;it's just splendid. There's a bit of a
+      current here and the water is delightfully cool.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      Martin was aroused from his sleep by the sound or voices. He seized his
+      rifle, bent over his wife, and whispered to her to awake; then crawling on
+      his hands and knees from the hut he reached the bank and looked out, just
+      as young Walters dived into the water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hardened murderer as he was, he felt a thrill of horror, for he knew that
+      the pool was a noted haunt of alligators, and to attempt to swim across it
+      meant certain death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His wife touched his arm, and crouching beside him, her black eyes filled
+      with a deadly hatred, she showed her white teeth and gave a low, hissing
+      laugh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Before one can count ten he will be in the jaws,&rdquo; she said, with savage
+      joy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nuta,&rdquo; whispered Martin hoarsely, &ldquo;'tis but a boy,&rdquo; and the veins stood
+      out on his bronzed forehead as his hand closed tighter around his rifle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What wouldst thou do, fool?&rdquo; said the woman fiercely as she seized the
+      weapon by the barrel; &ldquo;think of thy son who died but yesterday... ah! ah!
+      look! look!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Tearing the rifle from her grasp he followed the direction of her eyes; a
+      swiftly-moving black snout showed less than thirty yards from the
+      unconscious bather, who was now swimming leisurely to the bank.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He must not die,&rdquo; he muttered; &ldquo;'tis but a boy!&rdquo; Then turning to the
+      woman he spoke aloud. &ldquo;Quick! run to the forest; I shall follow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Again she sought to stay his hand; he dashed her aside, raised the rifle
+      to his shoulder and took a quick but steady aim; a second later the loud
+      report rang out, and the monster, struck on his bony head by the heavy
+      bullet, sank in alarm; and then, ere Martin turned to run, two other shots
+      disturbed the silence and he pitched forward on his face into the long
+      grass.
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We just saw the beggar in time, sir,&rdquo; cried Jones. &ldquo;I happened to look
+      across and caught sight of him just as he fired at Mr. Walters. Me and
+      Morris fired together.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Grayling had sprung to his feet. &ldquo;Are you hit, Walters?&rdquo; he shouted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; replied the boy as he clambered up the bank; &ldquo;what the deuce is the
+      matter?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A nigger took a pot-shot at you! Get under cover as quick as you can.
+      Never mind your clothes!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ten minutes passed. No sound broke the deathly stillness of the place; and
+      then, cautiously creeping through the grass, the officer and Morris
+      crawled round to where the latter had seen the man fall. They came upon
+      him suddenly. He was lying partly on his face, with his eyes looking into
+      theirs. Morris sprang up and covered him with his rifle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm done for,&rdquo; Martin said quietly &ldquo;my back is broken. Did the crocodile
+      get the boy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Crocodile!&rdquo; said Grayling in astonishment. &ldquo;Did you fire at a crocodile?
+      Who are you? Are you a white man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind who I am,&rdquo; he gasped; &ldquo;let me lie here. Look,&rdquo; and he pointed
+      to a bullet-hole in his stomach; &ldquo;it's gone clean through me and smashed
+      my backbone. Let me stay as I am.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He never spoke again, and died whilst a litter was being made to carry him
+      down to the beach.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE RIVER OF DREAMS
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      I
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      There is a river I know which begins its life in a dark, sunless canyon
+      high up amid the thick forest-clad spurs of the range which traverses the
+      island from east to west. Here, lying deep and silent, is a pool, almost
+      encompassed by huge boulders of smooth, black rock, piled confusedly
+      together, yet preserving a certain continuity of outline where their bases
+      touch the water's edge. Standing far up on the mountainside you can, from
+      one certain spot alone, discern it two hundred feet below, and a thick
+      mass of tangled vine and creepers stretching across its western side,
+      through which the water flows on its journey to the sea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A narrow native path, used only by hunters of the wild pigs haunting the
+      depths of the gloomy mountain forest, led me to it one close, steaming
+      afternoon. I had been pigeon shooting along the crests of the ridges, and
+      having shot as many birds as I could carry, I decided to make a short cut
+      down to the level ground, where I was sure of finding water, resting
+      awhile and then making my way home along the beach to the village.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I had descended scarcely more than fifty yards when I struck the path&mdash;a
+      thin, red line of sticky, clay soil, criss-crossed by countless roots of
+      the great forest trees. A brief examination showed me that it had been
+      trodden by the feet of natives quite recently; their footprints led
+      downward. I followed, and presently came to a cleared space on the
+      mountainside, a spot which had evidently been used by a party of hunters
+      who had stayed there to cook some food, for the ashes of a fire lay in the
+      ground-oven they had made. Laying down my gun, I went to the edge and
+      peered cautiously over, and there far below I could see the pool, revealed
+      by a shaft of sunlight which pierced down through the leafy canopy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Feeling sure that the track would lead me to the water, where I should
+      have the satisfaction of a long drink, I set out again, and after narrowly
+      escaping pitching down headlong, I at last reached the bottom, and, with a
+      sigh of relief, threw down my gun and birds, and in another moment was
+      drinking eagerly of the ice-cold, crystal water in one of the many minor
+      pools which lay everywhere amid the boulders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After a few minutes' rest I collected some dead wood and lit a fire, being
+      hungry as well as thirsty; then leaving it to burn down, I climbed one of
+      the highest boulders to get a good view, and sighed with admiration at the
+      scene&mdash;there lay before me a deep, almost circular sheet or water,
+      about thirty yards across. Directly beneath me I could see the rocky
+      bottom; fifty feet further out towards the centre it was of unfathomable
+      blueness. On the opposite side a tree of enormous girth had fallen, long
+      years before, yet it was still growing, for some of its mighty roots were
+      embedded in the rich red soil of the mountain-side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As I looked, a fish, and then another, splashed just beside the fallen
+      tree. Slipping down from the boulder, I made my way round, just in time to
+      see scores of beautiful silvery fish, exactly like English grayling in
+      shape, dart away from under the tree out into the deep water. In other
+      streams of the island I had caught many of these fish, but had never seen
+      any so high up inland; and, elated at the prospect of much future sport, I
+      went on with my explorations.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I was about to climb over the tree, when I discovered that I could pass
+      underneath, for here and there it was supported on boulders standing out
+      two or three feet above the water. On the other side a tiny stream
+      trickled over a flat ledge of rock, to fall into a second but much smaller
+      pool ten or fifteen feet below; beyond that lay a long, narrow but shallow
+      stretch of crystal water, running between highly verdured banks, and
+      further away in the distance I could hear the murmur of a waterfall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Turning over a stone with my foot, a crayfish darted off and tried to
+      hide. There were scores, hundreds of them, everywhere&mdash;fine, fat,
+      luscious fellows, and in ten minutes I had a dozen of the largest in my
+      bag, to roast on the now glowing fire beside a juicy pigeon. Salt I had
+      none, but I did possess a ship biscuit and a piece of cold baked taro, and
+      with pigeon and crayfish, what more could a hungry man desire?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The intense solitude of the place, too, was enchanting. Now and then the
+      booming note of a pigeon, or the soft <i>coo-coo</i> of a ringdove, would
+      break the silence; overhead there was a sky of spotless blue; an hour
+      before I had sweltered under a brazen sun; here, under the mountain shade,
+      though there was not a breath of wind to stir a leaf, it was surprisingly
+      cool.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To lean against the soft white moss clothing the buttresses of a giant
+      maruhia-tree and smoke a pipe, was delightful after a tramp of six or
+      eight miles through a mountain forest; and to know that the return journey
+      would be through easy country along the banks of a new river was better
+      still.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I set off with a feeling of joyful expectancy, taking a last glance at the
+      beautiful little lake&mdash;I meant to return with some native friends to
+      fish it on the morrow&mdash;ere I struck into the forest once more to pick
+      up the path.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Every now and then I caught glimpses of the river, now gradually widening
+      as it was joined by other streamlets on either side. Some of these I had
+      to wade through, others I crossed on stones or fallen trees.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Half-way to the beach I came to a broad stretch of shallow water covered
+      with purple water-lilies; three small ducks, with alarmed quacking, shot
+      upward from where they had been resting or feeding under the bank, and
+      vanished over the tree-tops; and a sudden commotion in the water showed me
+      that there were many fish. Its beautiful clearness tempted me to strip off
+      and swim about the floating garden resting on its bosom, and I was just
+      about to undress when I heard a shot quite near. The moment after, I fired
+      in return, and gave a loud hail; then the high reedy cane grass on the
+      other side parted, and a man and a woman came out, stared at me, and then
+      laughed in welcome. They were one Nalik and his wife, people living in my
+      own village. The man carried a long single-barrelled German shot-gun, the
+      woman a basket of pigeons. Stepping down the bank, they waded across and
+      joined me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How came ye here?&rdquo; they asked, as we sat down together to smoke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I told them, and then learnt that the river ran into the sea through the
+      mangroves at a spot many miles from the village. Then I asked about the
+      big pool. Nalik nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, 'tis deep, very deep, and hath many fish in it. But it is a place of
+      <i>jelon</i> (haunted) and we always pass to one side. But here where we
+      now sit is a fine place for fish. And there are many wild pigs in the
+      forest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us come here to-morrow. Let us start ere the sun is up, and stay here
+      and fish and shoot till the day be gone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why not?&rdquo; said Sivi his wife, puffing her cigarette, &ldquo;and sleep here when
+      night comes, for under the banks are many thousand <i>unkar</i>
+      (crayfish), and I and some other women shall catch them by torchlight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And that was how I began to learn this island river and its ways, so that
+      now it has become the river ot my dreams.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      II
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      But with the dawn there came disappointment keen and bitter, for in the
+      night the north-east trade had died away, and now wild, swooping rain
+      squalls pelted and drenched the island from the westward, following each
+      other in quick succession, and whipping the smooth water inside the reef
+      into a blurred and churning sheet of foam, and then roaring away up
+      through the mountain passes and canyons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With my gear all ready beside me, I sat on the matted floor of the hut in
+      which I lived, smoking my pipe and listening to the fury of the squalls as
+      the force of the wind bent and swayed the thatched roof, and made the
+      cinnet-tied rafters and girders creak and work to and fro under the
+      strain. Suddenly the wicker-work door on the lee side was opened, and
+      Nalik jumped in, dripping with rain, but smiling good-naturedly as usual.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>Woa!</i>&rdquo; he said, taking his long, straight black hair in his hands
+      and squeezing out the water, &ldquo;'tis no day for us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I ventured an opinion that it might clear off soon. He shook his head as
+      he held out his brown hand for a stiff tot of Hollands, tossed it off, and
+      then sat down to open a small bundle he carried, and which contained a dry
+      jumper and pair of dungaree pants.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then quickly divesting himself of the soddened girdle of grass around his
+      loins, he put on the European garments, filled his pipe, and began to
+      talk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The wind will soon cease, for these squalls from the westward last not
+      long at this time of the year; but when the wind ceases, then comes rain
+      for two days sometimes&mdash;not heavy rain such as this, but soft rain as
+      fine as hair, and all the forest is wetted and the mountain paths are
+      dangerous even to our bare feet, and the pigeons give no note, and the sun
+      is dead. So we cannot go to the river to-day. To-morrow perhaps it may be
+      fine; therefore let us sit and be content.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So we sat and were content, remaining indoors in my own house, or visiting
+      those of our neighbours, eating, drinking, smoking, and talking. I was the
+      only white man on the island, and during my three months' residence had
+      got to know every man, woman, child, and dog in the village. And my
+      acquaintance with the dogs was very extensive, inasmuch as every one of
+      the thirty-four families owned at least ten dogs, all of which had taken
+      kindly to me from the very first. They were the veriest mongrels that ever
+      were seen in canine form, but in spite of that were full of pluck when pig
+      hunting. (I once saw seven or eight of them tackle a lean, savage old wild
+      boar in a dried-up taro swamp; two of them were ripped up, the rest hung
+      on to him by his ears and neck, and were dragged along as if they were as
+      light as feathers, until a native drove a heavy ironwood spear clean
+      through the creature's loins.)
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During the evening my native friends, in response to my inquiries about
+      the river, told me that it certainly took its rise from the deep pool I
+      have before described, and that had I made a more careful examination I
+      should have seen several tiny rivulets, hidden by the dense undergrowth,
+      flowing into it from both sides of the gorge. During severe rains an
+      immense volume of muddy water would rush down; yet, strangely enough, the
+      two kinds of fish which inhabited it were just as plentiful as ever as
+      soon as the water cleared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      About four o'clock in the morning, when I was sound in slumber, a voice
+      called to me to awaken. It was Nalik.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come out and look.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I lifted (not opened) my Venetian-sashed door of pandanus leaf, and
+      stepped out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      What a glorious change! The rain had ceased, and the shore and sea lay
+      bright and clear under a myriad-starred sky of deepest blue; the white
+      line of surf tumbling on the barrier reef a mile away seemed almost within
+      stone-throw. A gentle breeze swayed the fronds of the coco-palms above us,
+      and already the countless thousands of sea birds, whose &ldquo;rookery&rdquo; was on
+      two small islets within the reef and near the village, were awake, and
+      filling the air with their clamour as they, like us, prepared to start off
+      for their day's fishing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Our party consisted of&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      (1) Nalik, his wife and five dogs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      (2) Three young women, each with several dogs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      (3) Old Sru, chief of the district, with numerous dogs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      (4) Two boys and three girls, who carried baskets of food, crayfish nets,
+      boar-spears, &amp;c. Large number of dogs, male and female.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      (5) The white man, to whom, as soon as he appeared, the whole of the dogs
+      immediately attached themselves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      (6) Small boy of ten, named Toka, the terror of the village for his
+      illimitable impudence and unsurpassed devilry. But as he was a particular
+      friend of the white man (and could not be prevented) he was allowed to
+      come. He had three dogs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Before we started old Sru, Nalik, and myself had some Hollands, two
+      bottles of which were also placed in the care of Nalik's wife. The
+      &ldquo;devil,&rdquo; as Toka was called, mimicked us as we drank, smacked his lips and
+      rubbed one hand up and down his stomach. One of the big girls cuffed him
+      for being saucy. He retaliated by darting between her legs and throwing
+      her down upon the sand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently we started, the women and children going ahead, with the
+      exception of the &ldquo;devil,&rdquo; who stuck close to me, and carried my Snider in
+      one hand and my double-barrel muzzle-loader in the other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For the first two or three miles our way lay along the hard, white beach,
+      whose sands were covered everywhere by millions of tiny, blue-backed,
+      red-legged soldier crabs, moving to and fro in companies, regiments, and
+      divisions, hastening to burrow before the daylight revealed their presence
+      to their dreaded enemies&mdash;the golden-winged sand plovers and the
+      greedy sooty terns, who yet knew how to find them by the myriad small
+      nodules of sand they left to betray their hiding-place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Oh, the sweet, sweet smell of the forest as it is borne down from the
+      mountains and carried seaward, to gladden, it may be, the heart of some
+      hard-worked, broken-spirited sailor, who, in a passing ship, sees from
+      aloft this fair, fair island with its smiling green of lear, and soft,
+      heaving valleys, above the long lines of curving beach, showing white and
+      bright in the morning sun! And, as you walk, the surf upon the reef for
+      ever calls and calk; sometimes loudly with a deep, resonant boom, but
+      mostly with a soft, faint murmur like the low-breathed sigh of a woman
+      when she lies her cheek upon her lover's breast and looks upward to his
+      face with eyes aglow and lips trembling for his kiss.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Far, far above a feint note. 'Tis but a snow-white tropic bird, suspended
+      in mid-air on motionless wing, his long scarlet pendrices almost invisible
+      at such a height. Presently, as he discerns you, he lets his aerial,
+      slender form sink and sink, without apparent motion, till he is within
+      fifty feet, and then he turns his graceful head from side to side, and
+      inquiringly surveys you with his full, soft black eye. For a moment or two
+      he flutters his white wings gently and noiselessly, and you can imagine
+      you hear his timid heart-beats; then, satisfied with his scrutiny, his
+      fairy, graceful form floats upward into space again, and is lost to view.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Leaving the beach and the sound of the droning surf behind us we turned to
+      the starboard hand, and struck through the narrow strip of littoral
+      towards the mountains. For the first mile or so our way was through a
+      grove of pandanus-palms, nearly every one of which was in full fruit; on
+      the branches were sitting hundreds of small sooty terns, who watched our
+      progress beneath with the calm indifference borne of the utter confidence
+      of immunity of danger from any human being.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once through the sandy stretch on which the pandanus loves to grow, we
+      came to the outlier of the mountain lands&mdash;low, gently undulating
+      ridges, covered on both sides of the narrow track with dense thickets of
+      pineapples, every plant bearing a fruit half-matured, which, when ripened,
+      was never touched by the hand of man, for the whole island was, in places,
+      covered with thickets such as this, and the wild pig only revelled among
+      them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They grow thickly,&rdquo; I said to Nalik.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, <i>tahina</i>* they grow thickly and wild,&rdquo; he replied, with some
+      inflection of sadness in his voice; &ldquo;long, long ago, before my father's
+      father lived, there was a great town here. That was long before we of this
+      land had ever seen a white man. And now we who are left are but as dead
+      leaves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     * Friend.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How came it so to be?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He shook his head. &ldquo;I cannot tell. I only know that once we of this land
+      numbered many, many thousands, and now we are but hundreds. Here, where we
+      now walk, was once a great town of houses with stone foundations; if ye
+      cut away the <i>fara</i> (pineapples) thou wilt see the lower stones lying
+      in the ground.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We pressed onward and upward into the deeper forest, then turned downwards
+      along a narrow path, carpeted thick with fallen leaves, damp and soft to
+      the foot, for the sun's rays never pierced through the dense foliage
+      overhead. And then we came out upon a fair, green sward with nine stately
+      coco-palms clustered, their branches drooping over the river of my dreams,
+      which lay before us with open, waiting bosom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      III
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Under the shade of the nine cocos we made our camp, and old Sru and the
+      women and children at once set to work to build a &ldquo;house&rdquo; to protect us in
+      case it rained during the nights. Very quickly was the house built. The
+      &ldquo;devil&rdquo; was sent up the cocos to lop off branches, which, as they fell,
+      were woven into thatch by the deft, eager hands of the women, who were
+      supervised by Sivi, Nalik's handsome wife, amid much chatter and laughter,
+      each one trying to outvie the other in speed, and all anxious to follow
+      Nalik and myself to the river.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The place was well chosen. For nearly a hundred yards there was a clear
+      stretch of water flowing between low, grassy banks on which were growing a
+      few scattered pandanus-palms&mdash;the screw pine. Half a mile distant, a
+      jagged, irregular mountain-peak raised high its emerald-hued head in the
+      clear sunshine, and from every lofty tree on both sides of the stream
+      there came the continuous call of the gentle wood-doves and the great grey
+      pigeons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With Nalik and myself there came old Sru and the imp Toka, who at once set
+      to work and found us some small crayfish for bait. Our rods were slender
+      bamboos, about twelve feet long, with lines of the same length made of
+      twisted banana fibre as fine as silk, and equally as strong. My hook was
+      an ordinary flatted Kirby, about half the size of an English whiting hook;
+      Nalik preferred one of his own manufacture, made from a strip of
+      tortoise-shell, barbless and highly polished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Taking our stand at a place where the softly-flowing current eddied and
+      curled around some black boulders of rock whose surfaces were but a few
+      inches above the clear, crystal stream, we quickly baited our hooks and
+      cast together, the old chief and the boy throwing in some crushed-up
+      crayfish shells at the same time. Before five seconds had passed my
+      brown-skinned comrade laughed as his thin line tautened out suddenly, and
+      in another instant he swung out a quivering streak of shining blue and
+      silver, and deftly caught it with his left hand; almost at the same moment
+      my rod was strained hard by a larger fish, which darted in towards the
+      bank.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;First to thee, Nalik; but biggest to the <i>rebelli</i>&rdquo;* cried old Sru,
+      as with some difficulty&mdash;for my rod was too slight for such a fish&mdash;I
+      landed a lovely four-pounder on the grass.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     * White man.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Nalik laughed again, and before I had cleared my hook from the jaw of my
+      prize he had taken another and then a third, catching each one in his left
+      hand with incredible swiftness and throwing them to the boy. The women and
+      girls on the opposite bank laughed and chaffed me, and urged me to hasten,
+      or Nalik would catch five ere I landed another. But the <i>rebelli</i>
+      took no heed of their merriment, for he was quite content to let a few
+      minutes go whilst he examined the glistening beauty which lay quivering
+      and gasping on the sward. It was nearly eighteen inches in length, its
+      back from the tip of the upper jaw to the tail a brilliant dark blue
+      flecked with tiny specks of red, the sides a burnished silver, changing,
+      as the belly was reached, to a glistening white. The pectoral and lower
+      fins were a pale blue, flecked with somewhat larger spots of brighter red
+      than those on the back, and the tail showed the same colouring. In shape
+      it was much like a grayling, particularly about the head; and altogether a
+      more beautiful fresh-water fish I have never seen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We fished for an hour or more, and caught three or four dozen of this
+      particular fish as well as eight or nine dark-scaled, stodgy bream, which
+      haunted the centre of the pool where the water was deep. Then as the sun
+      grew fiercer they ceased to bite, and we ceased to tempt them; so we lay
+      down and rested and smoked, whilst the women and children made a
+      ground-oven and prepared some of the fish for cooking. Putting aside the
+      largest&mdash;which was reserved for the old chief and myself&mdash;Nalik's
+      kindly, gentle-voiced wife, watched the children roll each fish up in a
+      wrapper of green coconut leaf and lay them carefully upon the glowing bed
+      of stones in the oven, together with some scores of long, slender green
+      bananas, to serve as a vegetable in place of taro or yams, which would
+      take a much longer time to cook. On the top of all was placed the largest
+      fish, and then the entire oven was rapidly covered up with wild banana
+      leaves in the shape of a mound.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moment Nalik and I had laid down our rods, and whilst the oven was
+      being prepared, Toka and the two other boys sprang into the water at one
+      end of the pool and began to disturb the bottom with their feet. The young
+      girls and women, each carrying a small finely-meshed scoop-net, joined
+      them, and in a tew minutes they had filled a basket with crayfish, some of
+      which were ten inches in length, and weighed over a pound, their tails
+      especially being very large and fleshy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall we boil or bake them?&rdquo; asked Nalik as the basketful was brought up
+      to me for examination.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Boil them,&rdquo; I replied, for I had brought with me several pounds of coarse
+      salt taken from our wrecked ship's harness cask and carefully dried in the
+      sun, and a boiled crayfish or crab is better than one baked&mdash;and
+      spoiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A tall, graceful girl, named Seia, came forward with a large wooden bowl,
+      nearly eighteen inches in diameter at the top, and two feet in depth&mdash;no
+      light weight even to lift, for at its rim it was over an inch thick.
+      Placing it on the ground in front of Sru and myself, she motioned to the
+      other girls to bring water. They brought her about two gallons in buckets
+      made of the looped-up leaves of the taro plant, and poured it into the
+      vessel; then Nalik and old Sru, with rough tongs formed of the midrib of a
+      coconut branch, whipped up eight or ten large red-hot stones from a fire
+      near by, and dropped them into the vessel, the water in which at once
+      began to boil and send up a volume of steam as Seia tipped the entire
+      basketful of crustacean delicacies into the bowl, together with some
+      handfuls of salt. Then a closely-woven mat was placed over the top and
+      tied round it so as to keep in the heat&mdash;that is the way they boil
+      food in the South Seas with a wooden pot!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From time to time during the next quarter of an hour more red-hot stones
+      were dropped into the bowl until old Sru pronounced the contents to be <i>tunua</i>,
+      <i>i.e.</i>, well and truly cooked, and then whilst the now bright red
+      crayfish were laid out to cool upon platters of green woven coconut leaf,
+      the first oven of fish and bananas was opened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      What a delightful meal it was! The fat, luscious fish, cooked in their own
+      juices, each one deftly ridden of its compact coating of silvery scales by
+      the quick hands of the women, and then turned out hot and smoking upon a
+      platter of leaf, with half a dozen green, baked bananas for bread! Such
+      fish, and so cooked, surely fall to the lot of few. Your City professional
+      diner who loves to instruct us in the daily papers about &ldquo;how to dine&rdquo;
+       cannot know anything about the real enjoyment of eating. He is <i>blasé</i>
+      he regulates his stomach to his costume and to the season, and he eats as
+      fashion dictates he should eat, and fills his long-suffering stomach with
+      nickety, tin-pot, poisonous &ldquo;delicacies&rdquo; which he believes are excellent
+      because they are expensive and are prepared by a <i>chef</i> whose income
+      is ten times as much as his own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So we ate our fish and bananas, and then followed on with the crayfish,
+      the women and children shelling them for us as fast as we could eat, the
+      largest and fittest being placed before the old chief and the white man.
+      And then for dessert we had a basket of red-ripe wild mangoes, with a
+      great smooth-leaved pineapple as big as a big man's head, and showing red
+      and green and yellow, and smelling fresh and sweet with the rain of the
+      previous night. Near by where we sat was a pile of freshly-husked young
+      coconuts, which a smiling-faced young girl opened for us as we wanted a
+      drink, carefully pouring out upon the ground all the liquid that remained
+      after Sru and myself had drank, and then putting the empty shells, with
+      their delicate lining of alabaster flesh, into the fire to be consumed,
+      for no one not of chiefly rank must partake even of that which is cast
+      aside by a chief or his guests.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Our first meal of the day finished, we&mdash;that is, Nalik, Sru, and
+      myself&mdash;lay down under the shade or the newly-built thatched roof and
+      smoked our pipes in content, whilst the women and children, attended by
+      the dogs, bathed in the deepest part of the pool, shouting, laughing, and
+      splashing and diving till they were tired. The dogs, mongrel as they were,
+      enjoyed the fun as much as their masters, biting and worrying each other
+      playfully as they swam round and round, and then crawling out upon the
+      bank, they ran to and fro upon the grassy sward till they too were glad to
+      rest under the shade of the clump of coco-palms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the afternoon&mdash;leaving the rest of our party to amuse themselves
+      by catching crayfish and to make traps for wild pigs&mdash;Sru, Nalik,
+      Toka, and myself set out towards <i>the</i> pool at the head of the river,
+      where, I was assured, we were sure to get a pig or two by nightfall. The
+      dogs evidently were equally as certain of this as Nalik and Sru, for the
+      moment they saw the two men pick up their heavy hunting-spears they sprang
+      to their feet and began howling and yelping in concert till they were
+      beaten into silence by the women. I brought with me a short Snider carbine&mdash;the
+      best and handiest weapon to stop a wild pig at a short range&mdash;and a
+      double-barrelled muzzle-loading shot-gun. The latter I gave to the &ldquo;devil&rdquo;
+       to carry, and promised him that he should fire at least five shots from it
+      at pigeons or mountain fowl before we returned to the village.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Following a narrow footpath which led along the right bank of the stream,
+      we struck directly into the heart of the mountain forest, and in a few
+      minutes the voices, shouts, and laughter of our companions sounded as if
+      they were miles and miles away. Now and then as we got deeper into the
+      dark, cool shade caused by the leafed dome above, we heard the shrill cry
+      of the long-legged mountain cock&mdash;a cry which I can only describe as
+      an attempt at the ordinary barnyard rooster's &ldquo;cock-a-doodle-do&rdquo; combined
+      with the scream of a cat when its tail is trodden upon by a heavy-booted
+      foot. Here in these silent, darkened aisles of the forest it sounded weird
+      and uncanny in the extreme, and aroused an intense desire to knock the
+      creature over; but I forebore to fire, although we once had a view of a
+      fine bird, attended by a hen and chicks, scurrying across the leaf-strewn
+      ground not fifty feet away. Everywhere around us the great grey pigeons
+      were sounding their booming notes from the branches overhead, but of these
+      too we took no heed, for a shot would have alarmed every wild pig within a
+      mile of us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An hour's march brought us to the crest of a spur covered with a species
+      of white cedar, whose branches were literally swarming with doves and
+      pigeons, feeding upon small, sweet-scented berries about the size of
+      English haws. Here we rested awhile, the dogs behaving splendidly by lying
+      down quietly and scarcely moving as they watched me taking off my boots
+      and putting on a pair of cinnet (coir fibre) sandals. Just beneath us was
+      a deep canyon, at the bottom of which, so Nalik said, was a tiny rivulet
+      which ran through banks covered with wild yams and <i>ti</i> plants.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There be nothing so sweet to the mouth of the mountain pig as the thick
+      roots of the <i>ti</i>,&rdquo; said Nalik to me in a low voice. &ldquo;They come here
+      to root them up at this time of the year, before the wild yams are well
+      grown, and the <i>ti</i> both fattens and sweetens. Let us start.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At a sign from Sru, Nalilc and the boy Toka, followed by the dogs, went
+      off towards the head of the canyon, so as to drive down to the old man and
+      myself any pigs which might be feeding above, whilst we slipped quietly
+      down the side of the spur to the bank of the rivulet. Sru carried my gun
+      (which I had loaded with ball) as well as his spear. I had my Snider.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We had not long to wait, for presently we heard the dogs give cry, and the
+      silence of the forest was broken by the demoniac yells of Nalik and the
+      &ldquo;devil,&rdquo; who had started a party of two boars and half a dozen sows with
+      their half-grown progeny, which were lying down around the buttressed
+      sides of a great tika-tree. They (the pigs) came down the side of the
+      rivulet with a tremendous rush, right on top of us in fact. I fired at the
+      leader&mdash;a great yellow, razorbacked boar with enormous tusks&mdash;missed
+      him, but hit a young sow who was running on his port side. Sru, with truer
+      aim, fired both barrels of his gun in quick succession, and the second
+      boar dropped with a bullet through both shoulders, and a dear little black
+      and yellow striped four-months'-old porker went under to the other barrel
+      with a broken spine. Then in another three or four minutes we were kicking
+      and &ldquo;belting&rdquo; about half of the dogs, who, maddened by the smell of blood
+      from the wounded animals, sprang upon them and tried to tear them to
+      pieces; the rest of the pack (Heaven save the term!) had followed the
+      flying swine down the canyon; they turned up at the camp some three or
+      four hours later with bloodied jaws and gorged to distension.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The boar which Sru had shot was lean enough in all conscience, but the
+      young sow and the four-months'-old porker were as round-bodied as barrels,
+      and as fat as only pigs can be fat. After disembowelling them, we hoisted
+      the carcasses up under the branch of a tree out of the reach of the dogs,
+      and sent Toka back to the camp to tell the women to come and carry them
+      away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, as we had still another hour or two of daylight, and I longed to see
+      the deep, deep pool at the head of the river, even if it were but for a
+      few moments, the old chief Nalik and I started off.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It lay before us with many, many bars of golden sunlight striking down
+      through the trees and trying to penetrate its calm, placid bosom with
+      their warm, loving rays. Far below the sound of the waterfall sung to the
+      dying day, and, as we listened, there came to us the dulled, distant
+      murmur of the combing breakers upon the reef five miles away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Tis a fair, good place this, is it not?&rdquo; whispered Nalik, as he sat
+      beside me&mdash;&ldquo;a fair, good place, though it be haunted by the spirits.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aye, a fair, sweet place indeed,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;and this pool aid the
+      river below shall for ever be in my dreams when I am far away from here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of &ldquo;Martin Of Nitendi&rdquo;; and The River Of
+Dreams, by Louis Becke
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+</pre>
+  </body>
+</html>
diff --git a/24641.txt b/24641.txt
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/24641.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,1276 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of "Martin Of Nitendi"; and The River Of Dreams, by
+Louis Becke
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: "Martin Of Nitendi"; and The River Of Dreams
+       1901
+
+Author: Louis Becke
+
+Release Date: February 18, 2008 [EBook #24641]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARTIN OF NITENDI ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+"MARTIN OF NITENDI"; and THE RIVER OF DREAMS
+
+By Louis Becke
+
+T. Fisher Unwin, 1901
+
+
+
+
+"MARTIN OF NITENDI"
+
+Half-way up the side of the mountain which overlooked the waters of
+the little land-locked harbour there was a space clear of timber. Huge,
+jagged rocks, whose surfaces were covered with creepers and grey moss,
+protruded from the soil, and on the highest of these a man was lying at
+full length, looking at the gunboat anchored half a mile away. He was
+clothed in a girdle of _ti_ leaves only; his feet were bare, cut, and
+bleeding; round his waist was strapped a leather belt with an empty
+cartridge pouch; his brawny right hand grasped a Snider rifle; his
+head-covering was a roughly made cap of coconut-nut leaf, with a
+projecting peak, designed to shield his blood-shot, savage eyes from
+the sun. Yet he had been a White Man. For nearly an hour he had been
+watching, ever since the dawn had broken. Far below him, thin, wavering
+curls of pale blue smoke were arising from the site of the native
+village, fired by the bluejackets on the previous evening. The ruins of
+his own house he could discern by the low stone wall surrounding it;
+as for the native huts which, the day before, had clustered so thickly
+around his own dwelling, there was now no trace save heaps of grey
+ashes.
+
+A boat put off from the ship, and as the yellow-bladed oars flashed in
+the sunlight the man drew his rifle close up to his side and his eyes
+gleamed with a deadly hatred.
+
+"Officers' shootin' party," he muttered, as he watched the boat ground
+on the beach and three men, carrying guns, step out and walk up the
+beach--"officer's shootin' party. Christ A'mighty! I'd like to pot every
+one o' the swine. An' I could do it, too, I could do it. But wot's the
+use o' bein' a blarsted fool for nothin'?"
+
+The boat's crew got out and walked about the smouldering remains of the
+village, seeking for curios which had escaped the fire, pausing awhile
+to look at a large mound of sand, under which lay seven of the natives
+killed by the landing-party on the preceding day. Then, satisfied that
+there was nothing to be had, the coxswain grumblingly ordered the men
+back to the boat, which pushed off and returned to the ship.
+
+The wild, naked creature lying upon the boulder saw the boat pull off
+with a sigh of satisfaction. There was, under the ashes of his house,
+and buried still further under the soil, a 50-lb. beef barrel filled
+with Chilian and Mexican dollars. And he had feared that the bluejackets
+might rake about the ashes and find it.
+
+He rose and stepped down the jagged boulder to where, at the base,
+the thick carpet of dead leaves, fallen from the giant trees which
+encompassed it, silenced even the tread of his naked feet. Seated
+against the bole of a many-buttressed _vi_-tree was a native woman,
+whose right arm, shattered by a bullet and bound up in the spathe of a
+coconut-palm, was suspended from her neck by a strip of soft bark. She
+looked at him inquiringly.
+
+"A boat has come ashore," he said in the native tongue, "but none of the
+white men are seeking for my money."
+
+"Thy money!" The woman's eyes blazed with a deadly fury. "What is thy
+money to me? Is thy money more to us than the blood of our child? O,
+thou coward heart!"
+
+Grasping his Snider by the tip of the barrel the man looked at his wife
+with sullen, dulled ferocity.
+
+"I am no coward, Nuta. Thou dost not understand. I wish to save the
+money, but I wish for revenge as well. Yet what can I do? I am but one
+man, and have but one cartridge left."
+
+* * * * *
+
+This naked, sun-tanned being was one of the most desperate and
+blood-stained beachcombers that had ever cursed the fair isles of the
+South Pacific, and in those days there were many, notably on Pleasant
+Island and in the Gilbert Group. Put ashore at Nitendi from a Hobart
+Town whaler for mutinous conduct, he had disassociated himself for ever
+from civilisation. Perhaps the convict strain in his blood had something
+to do with his vicious nature, for both his father and mother had "left
+their country for their country's good," and his early training had been
+given him under the shadow of the gallows and within the swishing sound
+of the "cat" as it lacerated the backs of the wretched beings doomed to
+suffer under the awful convict system.
+
+From the simple, loafing beachcomber stage of life to that of a leader
+of the natives in their tribal wars was a simple but natural transition,
+and Jim Martin, son of a convict father and mother whose forbears were
+of the scum of Liverpool, and knew the precincts of a prison better than
+the open air, followed the path ordained for him by Fate.
+
+The man's reckless courage won him undoubted respect from his
+associates; the head chief of the village alone possessed a greater
+influence. A house was built for him, and a wife and land given him; and
+within a year of his arrival on the island he signalised himself by a
+desperate attempt to cut-off a barque bound from Hobart to China as
+she lay becalmed off the island. The attempt failed, and many of his
+followers lost their lives. A few months later, however, he was more
+successful with a Fijian trading cutter, which, anchoring off the
+village, was carried during the night, plundered of her cargo of trade
+goods (much of which was firearms), and then burnt. This established his
+reputation.
+
+Five years passed. But few vessels touched at the island now, for it had
+a bad name, and those which did call were well armed and able to beat
+off an attack. Then one day, two years before the opening of this story,
+a trading schooner called off the village, and Martin, now more a savage
+native than a white man, was tempted by her defenceless condition, and
+by the money which the captain carried for trading purposes, to capture
+her, with the aid of the wild, savage people among whom he had cast
+his lot. Of what use the money would be to him he knew not. He was an
+outcast from civilisation, he was quickly forgetting his mother tongue;
+but his criminal instincts, and his desire to be a "big man" with the
+savages among whom he had lived for so long, led him to perpetrate this
+one particular crime. In the dead of night he led a party of natives
+on board the schooner, and massacred every one of her crew, save one
+Fijian, who, jumping overboard, swam to the shore, and was spared. A few
+months later this man escaped to a passing whaler, and the story of the
+massacre of the captain and crew of the _Fedora_ was made known to
+the commodore of the Australian station, who despatched a gunboat "to
+apprehend the murderers and bring them to Sydney for trial." Failing the
+apprehension of the murderers, the commander was instructed "to burn
+the village, and inflict such other punitive methods upon the people
+generally" as he deemed fit.
+
+So Commander Lempriere, of H.M. gunboat _Terrier_, went to work with
+a will. He meant to catch the murderers of the crew of the _Fedora_ if
+they possibly could be caught, and set to work in a manner that would
+have shocked the commodore. Instead of steaming into the bay on which
+the village was situated--and so giving the natives ample time to clear
+out into the mountains--he brought-to at dusk, when the ship was twenty
+miles from the land, and sent away the landing party in three boats. The
+Fijian--he who had escaped from the massacre of the _Fedora_--was the
+guide.
+
+"You know what to do, Chester," said Commander Lempriere to his first
+lieutenant as the boatswain's whistles piped the landing party away;
+"land on the north point, about two miles from the village, and surround
+it, and then wait till daylight. You can do it easily enough with thirty
+men, as it lies at the foot of the mountain, and there is no escape
+for the beggars unless they break through you and get into the bush. Be
+guided by the Fiji boy; and, as the Yankees say, 'no one wants a brass
+band with him when he's going duck-hunting,' so try and surround the
+village as quietly as possible. I'll see that none of them get away in
+their canoes. I'll work up abreast of the harbour by daylight."
+
+Guided by the boy, Lieutenant Chester and the landing party succeeded in
+getting ashore without being seen, and then made a long detour along the
+side of the mountain, so as to approach the village from behind. Then
+they waited till daylight, and all would have gone well had not his
+second in command, just as the order was given to advance, accidentally
+discharged his revolver. In an instant the village was alarmed, and some
+hundreds of natives, many of them armed with rifles, and led by Martin,
+sprang from their huts and made a short but determined resistance. Then,
+followed by their women and children, they broke through the bluejackets
+and escaped into the dense mountain jungle, where they were safe from
+pursuit. But the fire of the seamen had been deadly, for seven
+bodies were found; among them was a boy of about ten, whom the Fijian
+recognised as the renegade's son--a stray bullet had pierced his body
+as he sat crouching in terror in his father's house, and another
+had wounded his mother as she fled up the mountainside, for in the
+excitement and in the dim morning light it was impossible for the
+attacking party to tell women from men.
+
+Then by the commander's orders the village and fleet of canoes was
+fired, and a dozen or so of rockets went screaming and spitting
+among the thick mountain jungle, doing no damage to the natives, but
+terrifying them more than a heavy shell fire. *****
+
+"Let us away from here, Nuta," said Martin, "'tis not safe. In the hut
+by the side of the big pool we can rest till the ship has gone and our
+people return. And I shall bind thy arm up anew."
+
+The woman obeyed him silently, and in a few minutes they were skirting
+the side of the mountain by a narrow leaf-strewn path, taking the
+opposite direction to that followed by the two officers and bluejackets.
+Half an hour's walk brought them to the river bank, which was clothed
+with tall spear-grass. Still following the path, they presently emerged
+out into the open before a deep, spacious pool, at the further end of
+which was a dilapidated and deserted hut. Here the woman, faint with the
+pain of her wound, sank down, and Martin brought her water to drink, and
+then proceeded to re-examine and properly set her broken arm.
+
+*****
+
+The two officers--the second lieutenant and a ruddy-faced, fair-haired
+midshipman named Walters--had hardly proceeded a hundred yards along the
+beach, when the boy stopped.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Grayling, let us turn back and go the other way. There's a big
+river runs into the next bay, with a sort of a lake about a mile up; I
+saw it in the plan of the island, this morning. We might get a duck or
+two there, sir."
+
+"Any way you like," replied the officer, turning about, "and walking
+along the beach will be better than climbing up the mountain in the
+beastly heat for the sake of a few tough pigeons."
+
+Followed by the three bluejackets, who were armed with rifles, they set
+off along the hard white sand. In a few minutes they had rounded the
+headland on the north side and were out of sight of the ship. For quite
+a mile they tramped over the sand, till they came to the mouth of the
+river, which flowed swiftly and noisily over a shallow bar. A short
+search revealed a narrow path leading up along the bank, first through
+low thicket scrub, and then through high spear-grass. Further back, amid
+the dense forest, they could hear the deep notes of the wild pigeons,
+but as young Walters was intent on getting a duck they took no heed, but
+pressed steadily on.
+
+"By jove! what a jolly fine sheet of water!" whispered the midshipman as
+they emerged out from the long grass and saw the deep, placid pool lying
+before them; then he added disappointedly, "but not a sign of a duck."
+
+"Never mind," said Grayling consolingly, as he sat down on the bank and
+wiped his heated face, "we'll get plenty of pigeons, anyway. But first
+of all I'm going to have something to eat and drink. Open that bag,
+Williams, and you, Morris and Jones, keep your ears cocked and your
+eyes skinned. It's lovely and quiet here, but I wouldn't like to get a
+poisoned arrow into my back whilst drinking bottled beer."
+
+"I'm going to have a swim before I eat anything," said Walters, with a
+laugh. "Won't you, sir?" he asked, as he began undressing.
+
+"Looks very tempting," replied the officer, "but I'm too hot. Take my
+advice and wait a bit till you're cooler."
+
+The youngster only laughed, and, having stripped, took a header from
+the bank, and then swam out into the centre of the pool where it was
+deepest.
+
+"Oh, do come in, sir," he cried; "it's just splendid. There's a bit of a
+current here and the water is delightfully cool."
+
+*****
+
+Martin was aroused from his sleep by the sound or voices. He seized his
+rifle, bent over his wife, and whispered to her to awake; then crawling
+on his hands and knees from the hut he reached the bank and looked out,
+just as young Walters dived into the water.
+
+Hardened murderer as he was, he felt a thrill of horror, for he knew
+that the pool was a noted haunt of alligators, and to attempt to swim
+across it meant certain death.
+
+His wife touched his arm, and crouching beside him, her black eyes
+filled with a deadly hatred, she showed her white teeth and gave a low,
+hissing laugh.
+
+"Before one can count ten he will be in the jaws," she said, with savage
+joy.
+
+"Nuta," whispered Martin hoarsely, "'tis but a boy," and the veins stood
+out on his bronzed forehead as his hand closed tighter around his rifle.
+
+"What wouldst thou do, fool?" said the woman fiercely as she seized the
+weapon by the barrel; "think of thy son who died but yesterday... ah!
+ah! look! look!"
+
+Tearing the rifle from her grasp he followed the direction of her eyes;
+a swiftly-moving black snout showed less than thirty yards from the
+unconscious bather, who was now swimming leisurely to the bank.
+
+"He must not die," he muttered; "'tis but a boy!" Then turning to the
+woman he spoke aloud. "Quick! run to the forest; I shall follow."
+
+Again she sought to stay his hand; he dashed her aside, raised the rifle
+to his shoulder and took a quick but steady aim; a second later the loud
+report rang out, and the monster, struck on his bony head by the heavy
+bullet, sank in alarm; and then, ere Martin turned to run, two other
+shots disturbed the silence and he pitched forward on his face into the
+long grass.
+
+* * * * *
+
+"We just saw the beggar in time, sir," cried Jones. "I happened to look
+across and caught sight of him just as he fired at Mr. Walters. Me and
+Morris fired together."
+
+Grayling had sprung to his feet. "Are you hit, Walters?" he shouted.
+
+"No," replied the boy as he clambered up the bank; "what the deuce is
+the matter?"
+
+"A nigger took a pot-shot at you! Get under cover as quick as you can.
+Never mind your clothes!"
+
+Ten minutes passed. No sound broke the deathly stillness of the place;
+and then, cautiously creeping through the grass, the officer and Morris
+crawled round to where the latter had seen the man fall. They came upon
+him suddenly. He was lying partly on his face, with his eyes looking
+into theirs. Morris sprang up and covered him with his rifle.
+
+"I'm done for," Martin said quietly "my back is broken. Did the
+crocodile get the boy?"
+
+"Crocodile!" said Grayling in astonishment. "Did you fire at a
+crocodile? Who are you? Are you a white man?"
+
+"Never mind who I am," he gasped; "let me lie here. Look," and he
+pointed to a bullet-hole in his stomach; "it's gone clean through me and
+smashed my backbone. Let me stay as I am."
+
+He never spoke again, and died whilst a litter was being made to carry
+him down to the beach.
+
+
+
+
+
+THE RIVER OF DREAMS
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+There is a river I know which begins its life in a dark, sunless canyon
+high up amid the thick forest-clad spurs of the range which traverses
+the island from east to west. Here, lying deep and silent, is a pool,
+almost encompassed by huge boulders of smooth, black rock, piled
+confusedly together, yet preserving a certain continuity of outline
+where their bases touch the water's edge. Standing far up on the
+mountainside you can, from one certain spot alone, discern it two
+hundred feet below, and a thick mass of tangled vine and creepers
+stretching across its western side, through which the water flows on its
+journey to the sea.
+
+A narrow native path, used only by hunters of the wild pigs haunting the
+depths of the gloomy mountain forest, led me to it one close, steaming
+afternoon. I had been pigeon shooting along the crests of the ridges,
+and having shot as many birds as I could carry, I decided to make a
+short cut down to the level ground, where I was sure of finding water,
+resting awhile and then making my way home along the beach to the
+village.
+
+I had descended scarcely more than fifty yards when I struck the path--a
+thin, red line of sticky, clay soil, criss-crossed by countless roots of
+the great forest trees. A brief examination showed me that it had been
+trodden by the feet of natives quite recently; their footprints led
+downward. I followed, and presently came to a cleared space on the
+mountainside, a spot which had evidently been used by a party of hunters
+who had stayed there to cook some food, for the ashes of a fire lay in
+the ground-oven they had made. Laying down my gun, I went to the edge
+and peered cautiously over, and there far below I could see the pool,
+revealed by a shaft of sunlight which pierced down through the leafy
+canopy.
+
+Feeling sure that the track would lead me to the water, where I should
+have the satisfaction of a long drink, I set out again, and after
+narrowly escaping pitching down headlong, I at last reached the bottom,
+and, with a sigh of relief, threw down my gun and birds, and in another
+moment was drinking eagerly of the ice-cold, crystal water in one of the
+many minor pools which lay everywhere amid the boulders.
+
+After a few minutes' rest I collected some dead wood and lit a fire,
+being hungry as well as thirsty; then leaving it to burn down, I
+climbed one of the highest boulders to get a good view, and sighed with
+admiration at the scene--there lay before me a deep, almost circular
+sheet or water, about thirty yards across. Directly beneath me I could
+see the rocky bottom; fifty feet further out towards the centre it was
+of unfathomable blueness. On the opposite side a tree of enormous girth
+had fallen, long years before, yet it was still growing, for some of its
+mighty roots were embedded in the rich red soil of the mountain-side.
+
+As I looked, a fish, and then another, splashed just beside the fallen
+tree. Slipping down from the boulder, I made my way round, just in time
+to see scores of beautiful silvery fish, exactly like English grayling
+in shape, dart away from under the tree out into the deep water. In
+other streams of the island I had caught many of these fish, but had
+never seen any so high up inland; and, elated at the prospect of much
+future sport, I went on with my explorations.
+
+I was about to climb over the tree, when I discovered that I could pass
+underneath, for here and there it was supported on boulders standing
+out two or three feet above the water. On the other side a tiny stream
+trickled over a flat ledge of rock, to fall into a second but much
+smaller pool ten or fifteen feet below; beyond that lay a long, narrow
+but shallow stretch of crystal water, running between highly verdured
+banks, and further away in the distance I could hear the murmur of a
+waterfall.
+
+Turning over a stone with my foot, a crayfish darted off and tried
+to hide. There were scores, hundreds of them, everywhere--fine, fat,
+luscious fellows, and in ten minutes I had a dozen of the largest in my
+bag, to roast on the now glowing fire beside a juicy pigeon. Salt I had
+none, but I did possess a ship biscuit and a piece of cold baked taro,
+and with pigeon and crayfish, what more could a hungry man desire?
+
+The intense solitude of the place, too, was enchanting. Now and then
+the booming note of a pigeon, or the soft _coo-coo_ of a ringdove, would
+break the silence; overhead there was a sky of spotless blue; an hour
+before I had sweltered under a brazen sun; here, under the mountain
+shade, though there was not a breath of wind to stir a leaf, it was
+surprisingly cool.
+
+To lean against the soft white moss clothing the buttresses of a giant
+maruhia-tree and smoke a pipe, was delightful after a tramp of six
+or eight miles through a mountain forest; and to know that the return
+journey would be through easy country along the banks of a new river was
+better still.
+
+I set off with a feeling of joyful expectancy, taking a last glance at
+the beautiful little lake--I meant to return with some native friends to
+fish it on the morrow--ere I struck into the forest once more to pick up
+the path.
+
+Every now and then I caught glimpses of the river, now gradually
+widening as it was joined by other streamlets on either side. Some of
+these I had to wade through, others I crossed on stones or fallen trees.
+
+Half-way to the beach I came to a broad stretch of shallow water covered
+with purple water-lilies; three small ducks, with alarmed quacking, shot
+upward from where they had been resting or feeding under the bank, and
+vanished over the tree-tops; and a sudden commotion in the water showed
+me that there were many fish. Its beautiful clearness tempted me to
+strip off and swim about the floating garden resting on its bosom, and
+I was just about to undress when I heard a shot quite near. The moment
+after, I fired in return, and gave a loud hail; then the high reedy cane
+grass on the other side parted, and a man and a woman came out, stared
+at me, and then laughed in welcome. They were one Nalik and his wife,
+people living in my own village. The man carried a long single-barrelled
+German shot-gun, the woman a basket of pigeons. Stepping down the bank,
+they waded across and joined me.
+
+"How came ye here?" they asked, as we sat down together to smoke.
+
+I told them, and then learnt that the river ran into the sea through the
+mangroves at a spot many miles from the village. Then I asked about the
+big pool. Nalik nodded.
+
+"Ay, 'tis deep, very deep, and hath many fish in it. But it is a place
+of _jelon_ (haunted) and we always pass to one side. But here where we
+now sit is a fine place for fish. And there are many wild pigs in the
+forest."
+
+"Let us come here to-morrow. Let us start ere the sun is up, and stay
+here and fish and shoot till the day be gone."
+
+"Why not?" said Sivi his wife, puffing her cigarette, "and sleep
+here when night comes, for under the banks are many thousand _unkar_
+(crayfish), and I and some other women shall catch them by torchlight."
+
+And that was how I began to learn this island river and its ways, so
+that now it has become the river ot my dreams.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+But with the dawn there came disappointment keen and bitter, for in the
+night the north-east trade had died away, and now wild, swooping rain
+squalls pelted and drenched the island from the westward, following each
+other in quick succession, and whipping the smooth water inside the
+reef into a blurred and churning sheet of foam, and then roaring away up
+through the mountain passes and canyons.
+
+With my gear all ready beside me, I sat on the matted floor of the
+hut in which I lived, smoking my pipe and listening to the fury of the
+squalls as the force of the wind bent and swayed the thatched roof, and
+made the cinnet-tied rafters and girders creak and work to and fro under
+the strain. Suddenly the wicker-work door on the lee side was opened,
+and Nalik jumped in, dripping with rain, but smiling good-naturedly as
+usual.
+
+"_Woa!_" he said, taking his long, straight black hair in his hands and
+squeezing out the water, "'tis no day for us."
+
+I ventured an opinion that it might clear off soon. He shook his head as
+he held out his brown hand for a stiff tot of Hollands, tossed it off,
+and then sat down to open a small bundle he carried, and which contained
+a dry jumper and pair of dungaree pants.
+
+Then quickly divesting himself of the soddened girdle of grass around
+his loins, he put on the European garments, filled his pipe, and began
+to talk.
+
+"The wind will soon cease, for these squalls from the westward last not
+long at this time of the year; but when the wind ceases, then comes rain
+for two days sometimes--not heavy rain such as this, but soft rain as
+fine as hair, and all the forest is wetted and the mountain paths are
+dangerous even to our bare feet, and the pigeons give no note, and the
+sun is dead. So we cannot go to the river to-day. To-morrow perhaps it
+may be fine; therefore let us sit and be content."
+
+So we sat and were content, remaining indoors in my own house, or
+visiting those of our neighbours, eating, drinking, smoking, and
+talking. I was the only white man on the island, and during my three
+months' residence had got to know every man, woman, child, and dog
+in the village. And my acquaintance with the dogs was very extensive,
+inasmuch as every one of the thirty-four families owned at least ten
+dogs, all of which had taken kindly to me from the very first. They were
+the veriest mongrels that ever were seen in canine form, but in spite of
+that were full of pluck when pig hunting. (I once saw seven or eight of
+them tackle a lean, savage old wild boar in a dried-up taro swamp; two
+of them were ripped up, the rest hung on to him by his ears and neck,
+and were dragged along as if they were as light as feathers, until a
+native drove a heavy ironwood spear clean through the creature's loins.)
+
+During the evening my native friends, in response to my inquiries about
+the river, told me that it certainly took its rise from the deep pool I
+have before described, and that had I made a more careful examination I
+should have seen several tiny rivulets, hidden by the dense undergrowth,
+flowing into it from both sides of the gorge. During severe rains an
+immense volume of muddy water would rush down; yet, strangely enough,
+the two kinds of fish which inhabited it were just as plentiful as ever
+as soon as the water cleared.
+
+About four o'clock in the morning, when I was sound in slumber, a voice
+called to me to awaken. It was Nalik.
+
+"Come out and look."
+
+I lifted (not opened) my Venetian-sashed door of pandanus leaf, and
+stepped out.
+
+What a glorious change! The rain had ceased, and the shore and sea lay
+bright and clear under a myriad-starred sky of deepest blue; the white
+line of surf tumbling on the barrier reef a mile away seemed almost
+within stone-throw. A gentle breeze swayed the fronds of the coco-palms
+above us, and already the countless thousands of sea birds, whose
+"rookery" was on two small islets within the reef and near the village,
+were awake, and filling the air with their clamour as they, like us,
+prepared to start off for their day's fishing.
+
+Our party consisted of--
+
+(1) Nalik, his wife and five dogs.
+
+(2) Three young women, each with several dogs.
+
+(3) Old Sru, chief of the district, with numerous dogs.
+
+(4) Two boys and three girls, who carried baskets of food, crayfish
+nets, boar-spears, &c. Large number of dogs, male and female.
+
+(5) The white man, to whom, as soon as he appeared, the whole of the
+dogs immediately attached themselves.
+
+(6) Small boy of ten, named Toka, the terror of the village for
+his illimitable impudence and unsurpassed devilry. But as he was a
+particular friend of the white man (and could not be prevented) he was
+allowed to come. He had three dogs.
+
+
+Before we started old Sru, Nalik, and myself had some Hollands, two
+bottles of which were also placed in the care of Nalik's wife. The
+"devil," as Toka was called, mimicked us as we drank, smacked his lips
+and rubbed one hand up and down his stomach. One of the big girls cuffed
+him for being saucy. He retaliated by darting between her legs and
+throwing her down upon the sand.
+
+Presently we started, the women and children going ahead, with the
+exception of the "devil," who stuck close to me, and carried my Snider
+in one hand and my double-barrel muzzle-loader in the other.
+
+For the first two or three miles our way lay along the hard, white
+beach, whose sands were covered everywhere by millions of tiny,
+blue-backed, red-legged soldier crabs, moving to and fro in companies,
+regiments, and divisions, hastening to burrow before the daylight
+revealed their presence to their dreaded enemies--the golden-winged sand
+plovers and the greedy sooty terns, who yet knew how to find them by the
+myriad small nodules of sand they left to betray their hiding-place.
+
+Oh, the sweet, sweet smell of the forest as it is borne down from the
+mountains and carried seaward, to gladden, it may be, the heart of some
+hard-worked, broken-spirited sailor, who, in a passing ship, sees from
+aloft this fair, fair island with its smiling green of lear, and soft,
+heaving valleys, above the long lines of curving beach, showing white
+and bright in the morning sun! And, as you walk, the surf upon the reef
+for ever calls and calk; sometimes loudly with a deep, resonant boom,
+but mostly with a soft, faint murmur like the low-breathed sigh of a
+woman when she lies her cheek upon her lover's breast and looks upward
+to his face with eyes aglow and lips trembling for his kiss.
+
+Far, far above a feint note. 'Tis but a snow-white tropic bird,
+suspended in mid-air on motionless wing, his long scarlet pendrices
+almost invisible at such a height. Presently, as he discerns you, he
+lets his aerial, slender form sink and sink, without apparent motion,
+till he is within fifty feet, and then he turns his graceful head from
+side to side, and inquiringly surveys you with his full, soft black eye.
+For a moment or two he flutters his white wings gently and noiselessly,
+and you can imagine you hear his timid heart-beats; then, satisfied with
+his scrutiny, his fairy, graceful form floats upward into space again,
+and is lost to view.
+
+Leaving the beach and the sound of the droning surf behind us we turned
+to the starboard hand, and struck through the narrow strip of littoral
+towards the mountains. For the first mile or so our way was through a
+grove of pandanus-palms, nearly every one of which was in full fruit; on
+the branches were sitting hundreds of small sooty terns, who watched
+our progress beneath with the calm indifference borne of the utter
+confidence of immunity of danger from any human being.
+
+Once through the sandy stretch on which the pandanus loves to grow,
+we came to the outlier of the mountain lands--low, gently undulating
+ridges, covered on both sides of the narrow track with dense thickets
+of pineapples, every plant bearing a fruit half-matured, which, when
+ripened, was never touched by the hand of man, for the whole island was,
+in places, covered with thickets such as this, and the wild pig only
+revelled among them.
+
+"They grow thickly," I said to Nalik.
+
+"Ay, _tahina_* they grow thickly and wild," he replied, with some
+inflection of sadness in his voice; "long, long ago, before my father's
+father lived, there was a great town here. That was long before we of
+this land had ever seen a white man. And now we who are left are but as
+dead leaves."
+
+     * Friend.
+
+"How came it so to be?"
+
+He shook his head. "I cannot tell. I only know that once we of this land
+numbered many, many thousands, and now we are but hundreds. Here, where
+we now walk, was once a great town of houses with stone foundations; if
+ye cut away the _fara_ (pineapples) thou wilt see the lower stones lying
+in the ground."
+
+We pressed onward and upward into the deeper forest, then turned
+downwards along a narrow path, carpeted thick with fallen leaves, damp
+and soft to the foot, for the sun's rays never pierced through the dense
+foliage overhead. And then we came out upon a fair, green sward with
+nine stately coco-palms clustered, their branches drooping over the
+river of my dreams, which lay before us with open, waiting bosom.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+Under the shade of the nine cocos we made our camp, and old Sru and the
+women and children at once set to work to build a "house" to protect us
+in case it rained during the nights. Very quickly was the house built.
+The "devil" was sent up the cocos to lop off branches, which, as they
+fell, were woven into thatch by the deft, eager hands of the women, who
+were supervised by Sivi, Nalik's handsome wife, amid much chatter and
+laughter, each one trying to outvie the other in speed, and all anxious
+to follow Nalik and myself to the river.
+
+The place was well chosen. For nearly a hundred yards there was a clear
+stretch of water flowing between low, grassy banks on which were growing
+a few scattered pandanus-palms--the screw pine. Half a mile distant, a
+jagged, irregular mountain-peak raised high its emerald-hued head in the
+clear sunshine, and from every lofty tree on both sides of the stream
+there came the continuous call of the gentle wood-doves and the great
+grey pigeons.
+
+With Nalik and myself there came old Sru and the imp Toka, who at once
+set to work and found us some small crayfish for bait. Our rods were
+slender bamboos, about twelve feet long, with lines of the same length
+made of twisted banana fibre as fine as silk, and equally as strong. My
+hook was an ordinary flatted Kirby, about half the size of an English
+whiting hook; Nalik preferred one of his own manufacture, made from a
+strip of tortoise-shell, barbless and highly polished.
+
+Taking our stand at a place where the softly-flowing current eddied and
+curled around some black boulders of rock whose surfaces were but a few
+inches above the clear, crystal stream, we quickly baited our hooks and
+cast together, the old chief and the boy throwing in some crushed-up
+crayfish shells at the same time. Before five seconds had passed my
+brown-skinned comrade laughed as his thin line tautened out suddenly,
+and in another instant he swung out a quivering streak of shining blue
+and silver, and deftly caught it with his left hand; almost at the
+same moment my rod was strained hard by a larger fish, which darted in
+towards the bank.
+
+"First to thee, Nalik; but biggest to the _rebelli_"* cried old Sru,
+as with some difficulty--for my rod was too slight for such a fish--I
+landed a lovely four-pounder on the grass.
+
+     * White man.
+
+Nalik laughed again, and before I had cleared my hook from the jaw of
+my prize he had taken another and then a third, catching each one in his
+left hand with incredible swiftness and throwing them to the boy. The
+women and girls on the opposite bank laughed and chaffed me, and urged
+me to hasten, or Nalik would catch five ere I landed another. But the
+_rebelli_ took no heed of their merriment, for he was quite content to
+let a few minutes go whilst he examined the glistening beauty which lay
+quivering and gasping on the sward. It was nearly eighteen inches in
+length, its back from the tip of the upper jaw to the tail a brilliant
+dark blue flecked with tiny specks of red, the sides a burnished silver,
+changing, as the belly was reached, to a glistening white. The pectoral
+and lower fins were a pale blue, flecked with somewhat larger spots
+of brighter red than those on the back, and the tail showed the same
+colouring. In shape it was much like a grayling, particularly about
+the head; and altogether a more beautiful fresh-water fish I have never
+seen.
+
+We fished for an hour or more, and caught three or four dozen of this
+particular fish as well as eight or nine dark-scaled, stodgy bream,
+which haunted the centre of the pool where the water was deep. Then as
+the sun grew fiercer they ceased to bite, and we ceased to tempt them;
+so we lay down and rested and smoked, whilst the women and children made
+a ground-oven and prepared some of the fish for cooking. Putting aside
+the largest--which was reserved for the old chief and myself--Nalik's
+kindly, gentle-voiced wife, watched the children roll each fish up in
+a wrapper of green coconut leaf and lay them carefully upon the glowing
+bed of stones in the oven, together with some scores of long, slender
+green bananas, to serve as a vegetable in place of taro or yams, which
+would take a much longer time to cook. On the top of all was placed the
+largest fish, and then the entire oven was rapidly covered up with wild
+banana leaves in the shape of a mound.
+
+The moment Nalik and I had laid down our rods, and whilst the oven was
+being prepared, Toka and the two other boys sprang into the water at
+one end of the pool and began to disturb the bottom with their feet. The
+young girls and women, each carrying a small finely-meshed scoop-net,
+joined them, and in a tew minutes they had filled a basket with
+crayfish, some of which were ten inches in length, and weighed over a
+pound, their tails especially being very large and fleshy.
+
+"Shall we boil or bake them?" asked Nalik as the basketful was brought
+up to me for examination.
+
+"Boil them," I replied, for I had brought with me several pounds of
+coarse salt taken from our wrecked ship's harness cask and carefully
+dried in the sun, and a boiled crayfish or crab is better than one
+baked--and spoiled.
+
+A tall, graceful girl, named Seia, came forward with a large wooden
+bowl, nearly eighteen inches in diameter at the top, and two feet in
+depth--no light weight even to lift, for at its rim it was over an inch
+thick. Placing it on the ground in front of Sru and myself, she motioned
+to the other girls to bring water. They brought her about two gallons
+in buckets made of the looped-up leaves of the taro plant, and poured it
+into the vessel; then Nalik and old Sru, with rough tongs formed of the
+midrib of a coconut branch, whipped up eight or ten large red-hot stones
+from a fire near by, and dropped them into the vessel, the water in
+which at once began to boil and send up a volume of steam as Seia tipped
+the entire basketful of crustacean delicacies into the bowl, together
+with some handfuls of salt. Then a closely-woven mat was placed over the
+top and tied round it so as to keep in the heat--that is the way they
+boil food in the South Seas with a wooden pot!
+
+From time to time during the next quarter of an hour more red-hot stones
+were dropped into the bowl until old Sru pronounced the contents to be
+_tunua_, _i.e._, well and truly cooked, and then whilst the now bright
+red crayfish were laid out to cool upon platters of green woven coconut
+leaf, the first oven of fish and bananas was opened.
+
+What a delightful meal it was! The fat, luscious fish, cooked in their
+own juices, each one deftly ridden of its compact coating of silvery
+scales by the quick hands of the women, and then turned out hot and
+smoking upon a platter of leaf, with half a dozen green, baked bananas
+for bread! Such fish, and so cooked, surely fall to the lot of few. Your
+City professional diner who loves to instruct us in the daily papers
+about "how to dine" cannot know anything about the real enjoyment of
+eating. He is _blase_ he regulates his stomach to his costume and to
+the season, and he eats as fashion dictates he should eat, and fills
+his long-suffering stomach with nickety, tin-pot, poisonous "delicacies"
+which he believes are excellent because they are expensive and are
+prepared by a _chef_ whose income is ten times as much as his own.
+
+So we ate our fish and bananas, and then followed on with the crayfish,
+the women and children shelling them for us as fast as we could eat, the
+largest and fittest being placed before the old chief and the white man.
+And then for dessert we had a basket of red-ripe wild mangoes, with a
+great smooth-leaved pineapple as big as a big man's head, and showing
+red and green and yellow, and smelling fresh and sweet with the rain of
+the previous night. Near by where we sat was a pile of freshly-husked
+young coconuts, which a smiling-faced young girl opened for us as we
+wanted a drink, carefully pouring out upon the ground all the liquid
+that remained after Sru and myself had drank, and then putting the empty
+shells, with their delicate lining of alabaster flesh, into the fire to
+be consumed, for no one not of chiefly rank must partake even of that
+which is cast aside by a chief or his guests.
+
+Our first meal of the day finished, we--that is, Nalik, Sru, and
+myself--lay down under the shade or the newly-built thatched roof and
+smoked our pipes in content, whilst the women and children, attended by
+the dogs, bathed in the deepest part of the pool, shouting, laughing,
+and splashing and diving till they were tired. The dogs, mongrel as they
+were, enjoyed the fun as much as their masters, biting and worrying each
+other playfully as they swam round and round, and then crawling out upon
+the bank, they ran to and fro upon the grassy sward till they too were
+glad to rest under the shade of the clump of coco-palms.
+
+In the afternoon--leaving the rest of our party to amuse themselves by
+catching crayfish and to make traps for wild pigs--Sru, Nalik, Toka, and
+myself set out towards _the_ pool at the head of the river, where, I
+was assured, we were sure to get a pig or two by nightfall. The dogs
+evidently were equally as certain of this as Nalik and Sru, for the
+moment they saw the two men pick up their heavy hunting-spears they
+sprang to their feet and began howling and yelping in concert till they
+were beaten into silence by the women. I brought with me a short Snider
+carbine--the best and handiest weapon to stop a wild pig at a short
+range--and a double-barrelled muzzle-loading shot-gun. The latter I gave
+to the "devil" to carry, and promised him that he should fire at least
+five shots from it at pigeons or mountain fowl before we returned to the
+village.
+
+Following a narrow footpath which led along the right bank of the
+stream, we struck directly into the heart of the mountain forest, and in
+a few minutes the voices, shouts, and laughter of our companions sounded
+as if they were miles and miles away. Now and then as we got deeper
+into the dark, cool shade caused by the leafed dome above, we heard
+the shrill cry of the long-legged mountain cock--a cry which I can
+only describe as an attempt at the ordinary barnyard rooster's
+"cock-a-doodle-do" combined with the scream of a cat when its tail is
+trodden upon by a heavy-booted foot. Here in these silent, darkened
+aisles of the forest it sounded weird and uncanny in the extreme, and
+aroused an intense desire to knock the creature over; but I forebore to
+fire, although we once had a view of a fine bird, attended by a hen and
+chicks, scurrying across the leaf-strewn ground not fifty feet away.
+Everywhere around us the great grey pigeons were sounding their booming
+notes from the branches overhead, but of these too we took no heed, for
+a shot would have alarmed every wild pig within a mile of us.
+
+An hour's march brought us to the crest of a spur covered with a species
+of white cedar, whose branches were literally swarming with doves and
+pigeons, feeding upon small, sweet-scented berries about the size of
+English haws. Here we rested awhile, the dogs behaving splendidly by
+lying down quietly and scarcely moving as they watched me taking off my
+boots and putting on a pair of cinnet (coir fibre) sandals. Just beneath
+us was a deep canyon, at the bottom of which, so Nalik said, was a tiny
+rivulet which ran through banks covered with wild yams and _ti_ plants.
+
+"There be nothing so sweet to the mouth of the mountain pig as the thick
+roots of the _ti_," said Nalik to me in a low voice. "They come here
+to root them up at this time of the year, before the wild yams are well
+grown, and the _ti_ both fattens and sweetens. Let us start."
+
+At a sign from Sru, Nalilc and the boy Toka, followed by the dogs, went
+off towards the head of the canyon, so as to drive down to the old man
+and myself any pigs which might be feeding above, whilst we slipped
+quietly down the side of the spur to the bank of the rivulet. Sru
+carried my gun (which I had loaded with ball) as well as his spear. I
+had my Snider.
+
+We had not long to wait, for presently we heard the dogs give cry, and
+the silence of the forest was broken by the demoniac yells of Nalik and
+the "devil," who had started a party of two boars and half a dozen
+sows with their half-grown progeny, which were lying down around the
+buttressed sides of a great tika-tree. They (the pigs) came down the
+side of the rivulet with a tremendous rush, right on top of us in fact.
+I fired at the leader--a great yellow, razorbacked boar with enormous
+tusks--missed him, but hit a young sow who was running on his port side.
+Sru, with truer aim, fired both barrels of his gun in quick succession,
+and the second boar dropped with a bullet through both shoulders, and a
+dear little black and yellow striped four-months'-old porker went under
+to the other barrel with a broken spine. Then in another three or four
+minutes we were kicking and "belting" about half of the dogs, who,
+maddened by the smell of blood from the wounded animals, sprang upon
+them and tried to tear them to pieces; the rest of the pack (Heaven save
+the term!) had followed the flying swine down the canyon; they turned up
+at the camp some three or four hours later with bloodied jaws and gorged
+to distension.
+
+The boar which Sru had shot was lean enough in all conscience, but
+the young sow and the four-months'-old porker were as round-bodied as
+barrels, and as fat as only pigs can be fat. After disembowelling them,
+we hoisted the carcasses up under the branch of a tree out of the reach
+of the dogs, and sent Toka back to the camp to tell the women to come
+and carry them away.
+
+Then, as we had still another hour or two of daylight, and I longed to
+see the deep, deep pool at the head of the river, even if it were but
+for a few moments, the old chief Nalik and I started off.
+
+It lay before us with many, many bars of golden sunlight striking down
+through the trees and trying to penetrate its calm, placid bosom with
+their warm, loving rays. Far below the sound of the waterfall sung to
+the dying day, and, as we listened, there came to us the dulled, distant
+murmur of the combing breakers upon the reef five miles away.
+
+"'Tis a fair, good place this, is it not?" whispered Nalik, as he sat
+beside me--"a fair, good place, though it be haunted by the spirits."
+
+"Aye, a fair, sweet place indeed," I answered, "and this pool aid the
+river below shall for ever be in my dreams when I am far away from
+here."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of "Martin Of Nitendi"; and The River Of
+Dreams, by Louis Becke
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #24641 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/24641)
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+  <head>
+    <meta content="pg2html (binary v0.17)" name="linkgenerator" />
+    <title>
+      "Martin of Nitendi"; and the River Of Dreams, by Louis Becke
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
+    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
+    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
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+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    div.fig    { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
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+               margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%;
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of "Martin Of Nitendi"; and The River Of Dreams, by
+Louis Becke
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: "Martin Of Nitendi"; and The River Of Dreams
+       1901
+
+Author: Louis Becke
+
+Release Date: February 18, 2008 [EBook #24641]
+Last Updated: March 8, 2018
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARTIN OF NITENDI ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      &ldquo;MARTIN OF NITENDI"<br /> <br /> and THE RIVER OF DREAMS
+    </h1>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      By Louis Becke
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <h4>
+      T. Fisher Unwin, 1901
+    </h4>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      Contents
+    </h2>
+    <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto">
+      <tr>
+        <td>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>"MARTIN OF NITENDI"</b></big> </a>
+          </p>
+          <br />
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <big><b>THE RIVER OF DREAMS</b></big> </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> I </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> II </a>
+          </p>
+          <p class="toc">
+            <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> III </a>
+          </p>
+        </td>
+      </tr>
+    </table>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      &ldquo;MARTIN OF NITENDI&rdquo;
+     </h2>
+    <p>
+      Half-way up the side of the mountain which overlooked the waters of the
+      little land-locked harbour there was a space clear of timber. Huge, jagged
+      rocks, whose surfaces were covered with creepers and grey moss, protruded
+      from the soil, and on the highest of these a man was lying at full length,
+      looking at the gunboat anchored half a mile away. He was clothed in a
+      girdle of <i>ti</i> leaves only; his feet were bare, cut, and bleeding;
+      round his waist was strapped a leather belt with an empty cartridge pouch;
+      his brawny right hand grasped a Snider rifle; his head-covering was a
+      roughly made cap of coconut-nut leaf, with a projecting peak, designed to
+      shield his blood-shot, savage eyes from the sun. Yet he had been a White
+      Man. For nearly an hour he had been watching, ever since the dawn had
+      broken. Far below him, thin, wavering curls of pale blue smoke were
+      arising from the site of the native village, fired by the bluejackets on
+      the previous evening. The ruins of his own house he could discern by the
+      low stone wall surrounding it; as for the native huts which, the day
+      before, had clustered so thickly around his own dwelling, there was now no
+      trace save heaps of grey ashes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A boat put off from the ship, and as the yellow-bladed oars flashed in the
+      sunlight the man drew his rifle close up to his side and his eyes gleamed
+      with a deadly hatred.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Officers' shootin' party,&rdquo; he muttered, as he watched the boat ground on
+      the beach and three men, carrying guns, step out and walk up the beach&mdash;&ldquo;officer's
+      shootin' party. Christ A'mighty! I'd like to pot every one o' the swine.
+      An' I could do it, too, I could do it. But wot's the use o' bein' a
+      blarsted fool for nothin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The boat's crew got out and walked about the smouldering remains of the
+      village, seeking for curios which had escaped the fire, pausing awhile to
+      look at a large mound of sand, under which lay seven of the natives killed
+      by the landing-party on the preceding day. Then, satisfied that there was
+      nothing to be had, the coxswain grumblingly ordered the men back to the
+      boat, which pushed off and returned to the ship.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The wild, naked creature lying upon the boulder saw the boat pull off with
+      a sigh of satisfaction. There was, under the ashes of his house, and
+      buried still further under the soil, a 50-lb. beef barrel filled with
+      Chilian and Mexican dollars. And he had feared that the bluejackets might
+      rake about the ashes and find it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He rose and stepped down the jagged boulder to where, at the base, the
+      thick carpet of dead leaves, fallen from the giant trees which encompassed
+      it, silenced even the tread of his naked feet. Seated against the bole of
+      a many-buttressed <i>vi</i>-tree was a native woman, whose right arm,
+      shattered by a bullet and bound up in the spathe of a coconut-palm, was
+      suspended from her neck by a strip of soft bark. She looked at him
+      inquiringly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A boat has come ashore,&rdquo; he said in the native tongue, &ldquo;but none of the
+      white men are seeking for my money.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thy money!&rdquo; The woman's eyes blazed with a deadly fury. &ldquo;What is thy
+      money to me? Is thy money more to us than the blood of our child? O, thou
+      coward heart!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Grasping his Snider by the tip of the barrel the man looked at his wife
+      with sullen, dulled ferocity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I am no coward, Nuta. Thou dost not understand. I wish to save the money,
+      but I wish for revenge as well. Yet what can I do? I am but one man, and
+      have but one cartridge left.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      This naked, sun-tanned being was one of the most desperate and
+      blood-stained beachcombers that had ever cursed the fair isles of the
+      South Pacific, and in those days there were many, notably on Pleasant
+      Island and in the Gilbert Group. Put ashore at Nitendi from a Hobart Town
+      whaler for mutinous conduct, he had disassociated himself for ever from
+      civilisation. Perhaps the convict strain in his blood had something to do
+      with his vicious nature, for both his father and mother had &ldquo;left their
+      country for their country's good,&rdquo; and his early training had been given
+      him under the shadow of the gallows and within the swishing sound of the
+      &ldquo;cat&rdquo; as it lacerated the backs of the wretched beings doomed to suffer
+      under the awful convict system.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From the simple, loafing beachcomber stage of life to that of a leader of
+      the natives in their tribal wars was a simple but natural transition, and
+      Jim Martin, son of a convict father and mother whose forbears were of the
+      scum of Liverpool, and knew the precincts of a prison better than the open
+      air, followed the path ordained for him by Fate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The man's reckless courage won him undoubted respect from his associates;
+      the head chief of the village alone possessed a greater influence. A house
+      was built for him, and a wife and land given him; and within a year of his
+      arrival on the island he signalised himself by a desperate attempt to
+      cut-off a barque bound from Hobart to China as she lay becalmed off the
+      island. The attempt failed, and many of his followers lost their lives. A
+      few months later, however, he was more successful with a Fijian trading
+      cutter, which, anchoring off the village, was carried during the night,
+      plundered of her cargo of trade goods (much of which was firearms), and
+      then burnt. This established his reputation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Five years passed. But few vessels touched at the island now, for it had a
+      bad name, and those which did call were well armed and able to beat off an
+      attack. Then one day, two years before the opening of this story, a
+      trading schooner called off the village, and Martin, now more a savage
+      native than a white man, was tempted by her defenceless condition, and by
+      the money which the captain carried for trading purposes, to capture her,
+      with the aid of the wild, savage people among whom he had cast his lot. Of
+      what use the money would be to him he knew not. He was an outcast from
+      civilisation, he was quickly forgetting his mother tongue; but his
+      criminal instincts, and his desire to be a &ldquo;big man&rdquo; with the savages
+      among whom he had lived for so long, led him to perpetrate this one
+      particular crime. In the dead of night he led a party of natives on board
+      the schooner, and massacred every one of her crew, save one Fijian, who,
+      jumping overboard, swam to the shore, and was spared. A few months later
+      this man escaped to a passing whaler, and the story of the massacre of the
+      captain and crew of the <i>Fedora</i> was made known to the commodore of
+      the Australian station, who despatched a gunboat &ldquo;to apprehend the
+      murderers and bring them to Sydney for trial.&rdquo; Failing the apprehension of
+      the murderers, the commander was instructed &ldquo;to burn the village, and
+      inflict such other punitive methods upon the people generally&rdquo; as he
+      deemed fit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So Commander Lempriere, of H.M. gunboat <i>Terrier</i>, went to work with
+      a will. He meant to catch the murderers of the crew of the <i>Fedora</i>
+      if they possibly could be caught, and set to work in a manner that would
+      have shocked the commodore. Instead of steaming into the bay on which the
+      village was situated&mdash;and so giving the natives ample time to clear
+      out into the mountains&mdash;he brought-to at dusk, when the ship was
+      twenty miles from the land, and sent away the landing party in three
+      boats. The Fijian&mdash;he who had escaped from the massacre of the <i>Fedora</i>&mdash;was
+      the guide.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You know what to do, Chester,&rdquo; said Commander Lempriere to his first
+      lieutenant as the boatswain's whistles piped the landing party away; &ldquo;land
+      on the north point, about two miles from the village, and surround it, and
+      then wait till daylight. You can do it easily enough with thirty men, as
+      it lies at the foot of the mountain, and there is no escape for the
+      beggars unless they break through you and get into the bush. Be guided by
+      the Fiji boy; and, as the Yankees say, 'no one wants a brass band with him
+      when he's going duck-hunting,' so try and surround the village as quietly
+      as possible. I'll see that none of them get away in their canoes. I'll
+      work up abreast of the harbour by daylight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Guided by the boy, Lieutenant Chester and the landing party succeeded in
+      getting ashore without being seen, and then made a long detour along the
+      side of the mountain, so as to approach the village from behind. Then they
+      waited till daylight, and all would have gone well had not his second in
+      command, just as the order was given to advance, accidentally discharged
+      his revolver. In an instant the village was alarmed, and some hundreds of
+      natives, many of them armed with rifles, and led by Martin, sprang from
+      their huts and made a short but determined resistance. Then, followed by
+      their women and children, they broke through the bluejackets and escaped
+      into the dense mountain jungle, where they were safe from pursuit. But the
+      fire of the seamen had been deadly, for seven bodies were found; among
+      them was a boy of about ten, whom the Fijian recognised as the renegade's
+      son&mdash;a stray bullet had pierced his body as he sat crouching in
+      terror in his father's house, and another had wounded his mother as she
+      fled up the mountainside, for in the excitement and in the dim morning
+      light it was impossible for the attacking party to tell women from men.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then by the commander's orders the village and fleet of canoes was fired,
+      and a dozen or so of rockets went screaming and spitting among the thick
+      mountain jungle, doing no damage to the natives, but terrifying them more
+      than a heavy shell fire. *****
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us away from here, Nuta,&rdquo; said Martin, &ldquo;'tis not safe. In the hut by
+      the side of the big pool we can rest till the ship has gone and our people
+      return. And I shall bind thy arm up anew.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The woman obeyed him silently, and in a few minutes they were skirting the
+      side of the mountain by a narrow leaf-strewn path, taking the opposite
+      direction to that followed by the two officers and bluejackets. Half an
+      hour's walk brought them to the river bank, which was clothed with tall
+      spear-grass. Still following the path, they presently emerged out into the
+      open before a deep, spacious pool, at the further end of which was a
+      dilapidated and deserted hut. Here the woman, faint with the pain of her
+      wound, sank down, and Martin brought her water to drink, and then
+      proceeded to re-examine and properly set her broken arm.
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      The two officers&mdash;the second lieutenant and a ruddy-faced,
+      fair-haired midshipman named Walters&mdash;had hardly proceeded a hundred
+      yards along the beach, when the boy stopped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, Mr. Grayling, let us turn back and go the other way. There's a big
+      river runs into the next bay, with a sort of a lake about a mile up; I saw
+      it in the plan of the island, this morning. We might get a duck or two
+      there, sir.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Any way you like,&rdquo; replied the officer, turning about, &ldquo;and walking along
+      the beach will be better than climbing up the mountain in the beastly heat
+      for the sake of a few tough pigeons.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Followed by the three bluejackets, who were armed with rifles, they set
+      off along the hard white sand. In a few minutes they had rounded the
+      headland on the north side and were out of sight of the ship. For quite a
+      mile they tramped over the sand, till they came to the mouth of the river,
+      which flowed swiftly and noisily over a shallow bar. A short search
+      revealed a narrow path leading up along the bank, first through low
+      thicket scrub, and then through high spear-grass. Further back, amid the
+      dense forest, they could hear the deep notes of the wild pigeons, but as
+      young Walters was intent on getting a duck they took no heed, but pressed
+      steadily on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By jove! what a jolly fine sheet of water!&rdquo; whispered the midshipman as
+      they emerged out from the long grass and saw the deep, placid pool lying
+      before them; then he added disappointedly, &ldquo;but not a sign of a duck.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind,&rdquo; said Grayling consolingly, as he sat down on the bank and
+      wiped his heated face, &ldquo;we'll get plenty of pigeons, anyway. But first of
+      all I'm going to have something to eat and drink. Open that bag, Williams,
+      and you, Morris and Jones, keep your ears cocked and your eyes skinned.
+      It's lovely and quiet here, but I wouldn't like to get a poisoned arrow
+      into my back whilst drinking bottled beer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm going to have a swim before I eat anything,&rdquo; said Walters, with a
+      laugh. &ldquo;Won't you, sir?&rdquo; he asked, as he began undressing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Looks very tempting,&rdquo; replied the officer, &ldquo;but I'm too hot. Take my
+      advice and wait a bit till you're cooler.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The youngster only laughed, and, having stripped, took a header from the
+      bank, and then swam out into the centre of the pool where it was deepest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, do come in, sir,&rdquo; he cried; &ldquo;it's just splendid. There's a bit of a
+      current here and the water is delightfully cool.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      Martin was aroused from his sleep by the sound or voices. He seized his
+      rifle, bent over his wife, and whispered to her to awake; then crawling on
+      his hands and knees from the hut he reached the bank and looked out, just
+      as young Walters dived into the water.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Hardened murderer as he was, he felt a thrill of horror, for he knew that
+      the pool was a noted haunt of alligators, and to attempt to swim across it
+      meant certain death.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His wife touched his arm, and crouching beside him, her black eyes filled
+      with a deadly hatred, she showed her white teeth and gave a low, hissing
+      laugh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Before one can count ten he will be in the jaws,&rdquo; she said, with savage
+      joy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nuta,&rdquo; whispered Martin hoarsely, &ldquo;'tis but a boy,&rdquo; and the veins stood
+      out on his bronzed forehead as his hand closed tighter around his rifle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What wouldst thou do, fool?&rdquo; said the woman fiercely as she seized the
+      weapon by the barrel; &ldquo;think of thy son who died but yesterday... ah! ah!
+      look! look!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Tearing the rifle from her grasp he followed the direction of her eyes; a
+      swiftly-moving black snout showed less than thirty yards from the
+      unconscious bather, who was now swimming leisurely to the bank.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He must not die,&rdquo; he muttered; &ldquo;'tis but a boy!&rdquo; Then turning to the
+      woman he spoke aloud. &ldquo;Quick! run to the forest; I shall follow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Again she sought to stay his hand; he dashed her aside, raised the rifle
+      to his shoulder and took a quick but steady aim; a second later the loud
+      report rang out, and the monster, struck on his bony head by the heavy
+      bullet, sank in alarm; and then, ere Martin turned to run, two other shots
+      disturbed the silence and he pitched forward on his face into the long
+      grass.
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We just saw the beggar in time, sir,&rdquo; cried Jones. &ldquo;I happened to look
+      across and caught sight of him just as he fired at Mr. Walters. Me and
+      Morris fired together.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Grayling had sprung to his feet. &ldquo;Are you hit, Walters?&rdquo; he shouted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; replied the boy as he clambered up the bank; &ldquo;what the deuce is the
+      matter?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A nigger took a pot-shot at you! Get under cover as quick as you can.
+      Never mind your clothes!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Ten minutes passed. No sound broke the deathly stillness of the place; and
+      then, cautiously creeping through the grass, the officer and Morris
+      crawled round to where the latter had seen the man fall. They came upon
+      him suddenly. He was lying partly on his face, with his eyes looking into
+      theirs. Morris sprang up and covered him with his rifle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm done for,&rdquo; Martin said quietly &ldquo;my back is broken. Did the crocodile
+      get the boy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Crocodile!&rdquo; said Grayling in astonishment. &ldquo;Did you fire at a crocodile?
+      Who are you? Are you a white man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind who I am,&rdquo; he gasped; &ldquo;let me lie here. Look,&rdquo; and he pointed
+      to a bullet-hole in his stomach; &ldquo;it's gone clean through me and smashed
+      my backbone. Let me stay as I am.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He never spoke again, and died whilst a litter was being made to carry him
+      down to the beach.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      THE RIVER OF DREAMS
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      I
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      There is a river I know which begins its life in a dark, sunless canyon
+      high up amid the thick forest-clad spurs of the range which traverses the
+      island from east to west. Here, lying deep and silent, is a pool, almost
+      encompassed by huge boulders of smooth, black rock, piled confusedly
+      together, yet preserving a certain continuity of outline where their bases
+      touch the water's edge. Standing far up on the mountainside you can, from
+      one certain spot alone, discern it two hundred feet below, and a thick
+      mass of tangled vine and creepers stretching across its western side,
+      through which the water flows on its journey to the sea.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A narrow native path, used only by hunters of the wild pigs haunting the
+      depths of the gloomy mountain forest, led me to it one close, steaming
+      afternoon. I had been pigeon shooting along the crests of the ridges, and
+      having shot as many birds as I could carry, I decided to make a short cut
+      down to the level ground, where I was sure of finding water, resting
+      awhile and then making my way home along the beach to the village.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I had descended scarcely more than fifty yards when I struck the path&mdash;a
+      thin, red line of sticky, clay soil, criss-crossed by countless roots of
+      the great forest trees. A brief examination showed me that it had been
+      trodden by the feet of natives quite recently; their footprints led
+      downward. I followed, and presently came to a cleared space on the
+      mountainside, a spot which had evidently been used by a party of hunters
+      who had stayed there to cook some food, for the ashes of a fire lay in the
+      ground-oven they had made. Laying down my gun, I went to the edge and
+      peered cautiously over, and there far below I could see the pool, revealed
+      by a shaft of sunlight which pierced down through the leafy canopy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Feeling sure that the track would lead me to the water, where I should
+      have the satisfaction of a long drink, I set out again, and after narrowly
+      escaping pitching down headlong, I at last reached the bottom, and, with a
+      sigh of relief, threw down my gun and birds, and in another moment was
+      drinking eagerly of the ice-cold, crystal water in one of the many minor
+      pools which lay everywhere amid the boulders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After a few minutes' rest I collected some dead wood and lit a fire, being
+      hungry as well as thirsty; then leaving it to burn down, I climbed one of
+      the highest boulders to get a good view, and sighed with admiration at the
+      scene&mdash;there lay before me a deep, almost circular sheet or water,
+      about thirty yards across. Directly beneath me I could see the rocky
+      bottom; fifty feet further out towards the centre it was of unfathomable
+      blueness. On the opposite side a tree of enormous girth had fallen, long
+      years before, yet it was still growing, for some of its mighty roots were
+      embedded in the rich red soil of the mountain-side.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As I looked, a fish, and then another, splashed just beside the fallen
+      tree. Slipping down from the boulder, I made my way round, just in time to
+      see scores of beautiful silvery fish, exactly like English grayling in
+      shape, dart away from under the tree out into the deep water. In other
+      streams of the island I had caught many of these fish, but had never seen
+      any so high up inland; and, elated at the prospect of much future sport, I
+      went on with my explorations.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I was about to climb over the tree, when I discovered that I could pass
+      underneath, for here and there it was supported on boulders standing out
+      two or three feet above the water. On the other side a tiny stream
+      trickled over a flat ledge of rock, to fall into a second but much smaller
+      pool ten or fifteen feet below; beyond that lay a long, narrow but shallow
+      stretch of crystal water, running between highly verdured banks, and
+      further away in the distance I could hear the murmur of a waterfall.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Turning over a stone with my foot, a crayfish darted off and tried to
+      hide. There were scores, hundreds of them, everywhere&mdash;fine, fat,
+      luscious fellows, and in ten minutes I had a dozen of the largest in my
+      bag, to roast on the now glowing fire beside a juicy pigeon. Salt I had
+      none, but I did possess a ship biscuit and a piece of cold baked taro, and
+      with pigeon and crayfish, what more could a hungry man desire?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The intense solitude of the place, too, was enchanting. Now and then the
+      booming note of a pigeon, or the soft <i>coo-coo</i> of a ringdove, would
+      break the silence; overhead there was a sky of spotless blue; an hour
+      before I had sweltered under a brazen sun; here, under the mountain shade,
+      though there was not a breath of wind to stir a leaf, it was surprisingly
+      cool.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To lean against the soft white moss clothing the buttresses of a giant
+      maruhia-tree and smoke a pipe, was delightful after a tramp of six or
+      eight miles through a mountain forest; and to know that the return journey
+      would be through easy country along the banks of a new river was better
+      still.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I set off with a feeling of joyful expectancy, taking a last glance at the
+      beautiful little lake&mdash;I meant to return with some native friends to
+      fish it on the morrow&mdash;ere I struck into the forest once more to pick
+      up the path.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Every now and then I caught glimpses of the river, now gradually widening
+      as it was joined by other streamlets on either side. Some of these I had
+      to wade through, others I crossed on stones or fallen trees.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Half-way to the beach I came to a broad stretch of shallow water covered
+      with purple water-lilies; three small ducks, with alarmed quacking, shot
+      upward from where they had been resting or feeding under the bank, and
+      vanished over the tree-tops; and a sudden commotion in the water showed me
+      that there were many fish. Its beautiful clearness tempted me to strip off
+      and swim about the floating garden resting on its bosom, and I was just
+      about to undress when I heard a shot quite near. The moment after, I fired
+      in return, and gave a loud hail; then the high reedy cane grass on the
+      other side parted, and a man and a woman came out, stared at me, and then
+      laughed in welcome. They were one Nalik and his wife, people living in my
+      own village. The man carried a long single-barrelled German shot-gun, the
+      woman a basket of pigeons. Stepping down the bank, they waded across and
+      joined me.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How came ye here?&rdquo; they asked, as we sat down together to smoke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      I told them, and then learnt that the river ran into the sea through the
+      mangroves at a spot many miles from the village. Then I asked about the
+      big pool. Nalik nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, 'tis deep, very deep, and hath many fish in it. But it is a place of
+      <i>jelon</i> (haunted) and we always pass to one side. But here where we
+      now sit is a fine place for fish. And there are many wild pigs in the
+      forest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let us come here to-morrow. Let us start ere the sun is up, and stay here
+      and fish and shoot till the day be gone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why not?&rdquo; said Sivi his wife, puffing her cigarette, &ldquo;and sleep here when
+      night comes, for under the banks are many thousand <i>unkar</i>
+      (crayfish), and I and some other women shall catch them by torchlight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And that was how I began to learn this island river and its ways, so that
+      now it has become the river ot my dreams.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      II
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      But with the dawn there came disappointment keen and bitter, for in the
+      night the north-east trade had died away, and now wild, swooping rain
+      squalls pelted and drenched the island from the westward, following each
+      other in quick succession, and whipping the smooth water inside the reef
+      into a blurred and churning sheet of foam, and then roaring away up
+      through the mountain passes and canyons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With my gear all ready beside me, I sat on the matted floor of the hut in
+      which I lived, smoking my pipe and listening to the fury of the squalls as
+      the force of the wind bent and swayed the thatched roof, and made the
+      cinnet-tied rafters and girders creak and work to and fro under the
+      strain. Suddenly the wicker-work door on the lee side was opened, and
+      Nalik jumped in, dripping with rain, but smiling good-naturedly as usual.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>Woa!</i>&rdquo; he said, taking his long, straight black hair in his hands
+      and squeezing out the water, &ldquo;'tis no day for us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I ventured an opinion that it might clear off soon. He shook his head as
+      he held out his brown hand for a stiff tot of Hollands, tossed it off, and
+      then sat down to open a small bundle he carried, and which contained a dry
+      jumper and pair of dungaree pants.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then quickly divesting himself of the soddened girdle of grass around his
+      loins, he put on the European garments, filled his pipe, and began to
+      talk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The wind will soon cease, for these squalls from the westward last not
+      long at this time of the year; but when the wind ceases, then comes rain
+      for two days sometimes&mdash;not heavy rain such as this, but soft rain as
+      fine as hair, and all the forest is wetted and the mountain paths are
+      dangerous even to our bare feet, and the pigeons give no note, and the sun
+      is dead. So we cannot go to the river to-day. To-morrow perhaps it may be
+      fine; therefore let us sit and be content.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So we sat and were content, remaining indoors in my own house, or visiting
+      those of our neighbours, eating, drinking, smoking, and talking. I was the
+      only white man on the island, and during my three months' residence had
+      got to know every man, woman, child, and dog in the village. And my
+      acquaintance with the dogs was very extensive, inasmuch as every one of
+      the thirty-four families owned at least ten dogs, all of which had taken
+      kindly to me from the very first. They were the veriest mongrels that ever
+      were seen in canine form, but in spite of that were full of pluck when pig
+      hunting. (I once saw seven or eight of them tackle a lean, savage old wild
+      boar in a dried-up taro swamp; two of them were ripped up, the rest hung
+      on to him by his ears and neck, and were dragged along as if they were as
+      light as feathers, until a native drove a heavy ironwood spear clean
+      through the creature's loins.)
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      During the evening my native friends, in response to my inquiries about
+      the river, told me that it certainly took its rise from the deep pool I
+      have before described, and that had I made a more careful examination I
+      should have seen several tiny rivulets, hidden by the dense undergrowth,
+      flowing into it from both sides of the gorge. During severe rains an
+      immense volume of muddy water would rush down; yet, strangely enough, the
+      two kinds of fish which inhabited it were just as plentiful as ever as
+      soon as the water cleared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      About four o'clock in the morning, when I was sound in slumber, a voice
+      called to me to awaken. It was Nalik.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come out and look.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      I lifted (not opened) my Venetian-sashed door of pandanus leaf, and
+      stepped out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      What a glorious change! The rain had ceased, and the shore and sea lay
+      bright and clear under a myriad-starred sky of deepest blue; the white
+      line of surf tumbling on the barrier reef a mile away seemed almost within
+      stone-throw. A gentle breeze swayed the fronds of the coco-palms above us,
+      and already the countless thousands of sea birds, whose &ldquo;rookery&rdquo; was on
+      two small islets within the reef and near the village, were awake, and
+      filling the air with their clamour as they, like us, prepared to start off
+      for their day's fishing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Our party consisted of&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      (1) Nalik, his wife and five dogs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      (2) Three young women, each with several dogs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      (3) Old Sru, chief of the district, with numerous dogs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      (4) Two boys and three girls, who carried baskets of food, crayfish nets,
+      boar-spears, &amp;c. Large number of dogs, male and female.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      (5) The white man, to whom, as soon as he appeared, the whole of the dogs
+      immediately attached themselves.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      (6) Small boy of ten, named Toka, the terror of the village for his
+      illimitable impudence and unsurpassed devilry. But as he was a particular
+      friend of the white man (and could not be prevented) he was allowed to
+      come. He had three dogs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Before we started old Sru, Nalik, and myself had some Hollands, two
+      bottles of which were also placed in the care of Nalik's wife. The
+      &ldquo;devil,&rdquo; as Toka was called, mimicked us as we drank, smacked his lips and
+      rubbed one hand up and down his stomach. One of the big girls cuffed him
+      for being saucy. He retaliated by darting between her legs and throwing
+      her down upon the sand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Presently we started, the women and children going ahead, with the
+      exception of the &ldquo;devil,&rdquo; who stuck close to me, and carried my Snider in
+      one hand and my double-barrel muzzle-loader in the other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For the first two or three miles our way lay along the hard, white beach,
+      whose sands were covered everywhere by millions of tiny, blue-backed,
+      red-legged soldier crabs, moving to and fro in companies, regiments, and
+      divisions, hastening to burrow before the daylight revealed their presence
+      to their dreaded enemies&mdash;the golden-winged sand plovers and the
+      greedy sooty terns, who yet knew how to find them by the myriad small
+      nodules of sand they left to betray their hiding-place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Oh, the sweet, sweet smell of the forest as it is borne down from the
+      mountains and carried seaward, to gladden, it may be, the heart of some
+      hard-worked, broken-spirited sailor, who, in a passing ship, sees from
+      aloft this fair, fair island with its smiling green of lear, and soft,
+      heaving valleys, above the long lines of curving beach, showing white and
+      bright in the morning sun! And, as you walk, the surf upon the reef for
+      ever calls and calk; sometimes loudly with a deep, resonant boom, but
+      mostly with a soft, faint murmur like the low-breathed sigh of a woman
+      when she lies her cheek upon her lover's breast and looks upward to his
+      face with eyes aglow and lips trembling for his kiss.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Far, far above a feint note. 'Tis but a snow-white tropic bird, suspended
+      in mid-air on motionless wing, his long scarlet pendrices almost invisible
+      at such a height. Presently, as he discerns you, he lets his aerial,
+      slender form sink and sink, without apparent motion, till he is within
+      fifty feet, and then he turns his graceful head from side to side, and
+      inquiringly surveys you with his full, soft black eye. For a moment or two
+      he flutters his white wings gently and noiselessly, and you can imagine
+      you hear his timid heart-beats; then, satisfied with his scrutiny, his
+      fairy, graceful form floats upward into space again, and is lost to view.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Leaving the beach and the sound of the droning surf behind us we turned to
+      the starboard hand, and struck through the narrow strip of littoral
+      towards the mountains. For the first mile or so our way was through a
+      grove of pandanus-palms, nearly every one of which was in full fruit; on
+      the branches were sitting hundreds of small sooty terns, who watched our
+      progress beneath with the calm indifference borne of the utter confidence
+      of immunity of danger from any human being.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once through the sandy stretch on which the pandanus loves to grow, we
+      came to the outlier of the mountain lands&mdash;low, gently undulating
+      ridges, covered on both sides of the narrow track with dense thickets of
+      pineapples, every plant bearing a fruit half-matured, which, when ripened,
+      was never touched by the hand of man, for the whole island was, in places,
+      covered with thickets such as this, and the wild pig only revelled among
+      them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They grow thickly,&rdquo; I said to Nalik.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ay, <i>tahina</i>* they grow thickly and wild,&rdquo; he replied, with some
+      inflection of sadness in his voice; &ldquo;long, long ago, before my father's
+      father lived, there was a great town here. That was long before we of this
+      land had ever seen a white man. And now we who are left are but as dead
+      leaves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     * Friend.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How came it so to be?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He shook his head. &ldquo;I cannot tell. I only know that once we of this land
+      numbered many, many thousands, and now we are but hundreds. Here, where we
+      now walk, was once a great town of houses with stone foundations; if ye
+      cut away the <i>fara</i> (pineapples) thou wilt see the lower stones lying
+      in the ground.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      We pressed onward and upward into the deeper forest, then turned downwards
+      along a narrow path, carpeted thick with fallen leaves, damp and soft to
+      the foot, for the sun's rays never pierced through the dense foliage
+      overhead. And then we came out upon a fair, green sward with nine stately
+      coco-palms clustered, their branches drooping over the river of my dreams,
+      which lay before us with open, waiting bosom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      III
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      Under the shade of the nine cocos we made our camp, and old Sru and the
+      women and children at once set to work to build a &ldquo;house&rdquo; to protect us in
+      case it rained during the nights. Very quickly was the house built. The
+      &ldquo;devil&rdquo; was sent up the cocos to lop off branches, which, as they fell,
+      were woven into thatch by the deft, eager hands of the women, who were
+      supervised by Sivi, Nalik's handsome wife, amid much chatter and laughter,
+      each one trying to outvie the other in speed, and all anxious to follow
+      Nalik and myself to the river.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The place was well chosen. For nearly a hundred yards there was a clear
+      stretch of water flowing between low, grassy banks on which were growing a
+      few scattered pandanus-palms&mdash;the screw pine. Half a mile distant, a
+      jagged, irregular mountain-peak raised high its emerald-hued head in the
+      clear sunshine, and from every lofty tree on both sides of the stream
+      there came the continuous call of the gentle wood-doves and the great grey
+      pigeons.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With Nalik and myself there came old Sru and the imp Toka, who at once set
+      to work and found us some small crayfish for bait. Our rods were slender
+      bamboos, about twelve feet long, with lines of the same length made of
+      twisted banana fibre as fine as silk, and equally as strong. My hook was
+      an ordinary flatted Kirby, about half the size of an English whiting hook;
+      Nalik preferred one of his own manufacture, made from a strip of
+      tortoise-shell, barbless and highly polished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Taking our stand at a place where the softly-flowing current eddied and
+      curled around some black boulders of rock whose surfaces were but a few
+      inches above the clear, crystal stream, we quickly baited our hooks and
+      cast together, the old chief and the boy throwing in some crushed-up
+      crayfish shells at the same time. Before five seconds had passed my
+      brown-skinned comrade laughed as his thin line tautened out suddenly, and
+      in another instant he swung out a quivering streak of shining blue and
+      silver, and deftly caught it with his left hand; almost at the same moment
+      my rod was strained hard by a larger fish, which darted in towards the
+      bank.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;First to thee, Nalik; but biggest to the <i>rebelli</i>&rdquo;* cried old Sru,
+      as with some difficulty&mdash;for my rod was too slight for such a fish&mdash;I
+      landed a lovely four-pounder on the grass.
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+     * White man.
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      Nalik laughed again, and before I had cleared my hook from the jaw of my
+      prize he had taken another and then a third, catching each one in his left
+      hand with incredible swiftness and throwing them to the boy. The women and
+      girls on the opposite bank laughed and chaffed me, and urged me to hasten,
+      or Nalik would catch five ere I landed another. But the <i>rebelli</i>
+      took no heed of their merriment, for he was quite content to let a few
+      minutes go whilst he examined the glistening beauty which lay quivering
+      and gasping on the sward. It was nearly eighteen inches in length, its
+      back from the tip of the upper jaw to the tail a brilliant dark blue
+      flecked with tiny specks of red, the sides a burnished silver, changing,
+      as the belly was reached, to a glistening white. The pectoral and lower
+      fins were a pale blue, flecked with somewhat larger spots of brighter red
+      than those on the back, and the tail showed the same colouring. In shape
+      it was much like a grayling, particularly about the head; and altogether a
+      more beautiful fresh-water fish I have never seen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We fished for an hour or more, and caught three or four dozen of this
+      particular fish as well as eight or nine dark-scaled, stodgy bream, which
+      haunted the centre of the pool where the water was deep. Then as the sun
+      grew fiercer they ceased to bite, and we ceased to tempt them; so we lay
+      down and rested and smoked, whilst the women and children made a
+      ground-oven and prepared some of the fish for cooking. Putting aside the
+      largest&mdash;which was reserved for the old chief and myself&mdash;Nalik's
+      kindly, gentle-voiced wife, watched the children roll each fish up in a
+      wrapper of green coconut leaf and lay them carefully upon the glowing bed
+      of stones in the oven, together with some scores of long, slender green
+      bananas, to serve as a vegetable in place of taro or yams, which would
+      take a much longer time to cook. On the top of all was placed the largest
+      fish, and then the entire oven was rapidly covered up with wild banana
+      leaves in the shape of a mound.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moment Nalik and I had laid down our rods, and whilst the oven was
+      being prepared, Toka and the two other boys sprang into the water at one
+      end of the pool and began to disturb the bottom with their feet. The young
+      girls and women, each carrying a small finely-meshed scoop-net, joined
+      them, and in a tew minutes they had filled a basket with crayfish, some of
+      which were ten inches in length, and weighed over a pound, their tails
+      especially being very large and fleshy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shall we boil or bake them?&rdquo; asked Nalik as the basketful was brought up
+      to me for examination.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Boil them,&rdquo; I replied, for I had brought with me several pounds of coarse
+      salt taken from our wrecked ship's harness cask and carefully dried in the
+      sun, and a boiled crayfish or crab is better than one baked&mdash;and
+      spoiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A tall, graceful girl, named Seia, came forward with a large wooden bowl,
+      nearly eighteen inches in diameter at the top, and two feet in depth&mdash;no
+      light weight even to lift, for at its rim it was over an inch thick.
+      Placing it on the ground in front of Sru and myself, she motioned to the
+      other girls to bring water. They brought her about two gallons in buckets
+      made of the looped-up leaves of the taro plant, and poured it into the
+      vessel; then Nalik and old Sru, with rough tongs formed of the midrib of a
+      coconut branch, whipped up eight or ten large red-hot stones from a fire
+      near by, and dropped them into the vessel, the water in which at once
+      began to boil and send up a volume of steam as Seia tipped the entire
+      basketful of crustacean delicacies into the bowl, together with some
+      handfuls of salt. Then a closely-woven mat was placed over the top and
+      tied round it so as to keep in the heat&mdash;that is the way they boil
+      food in the South Seas with a wooden pot!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From time to time during the next quarter of an hour more red-hot stones
+      were dropped into the bowl until old Sru pronounced the contents to be <i>tunua</i>,
+      <i>i.e.</i>, well and truly cooked, and then whilst the now bright red
+      crayfish were laid out to cool upon platters of green woven coconut leaf,
+      the first oven of fish and bananas was opened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      What a delightful meal it was! The fat, luscious fish, cooked in their own
+      juices, each one deftly ridden of its compact coating of silvery scales by
+      the quick hands of the women, and then turned out hot and smoking upon a
+      platter of leaf, with half a dozen green, baked bananas for bread! Such
+      fish, and so cooked, surely fall to the lot of few. Your City professional
+      diner who loves to instruct us in the daily papers about &ldquo;how to dine&rdquo;
+       cannot know anything about the real enjoyment of eating. He is <i>blasé</i>
+      he regulates his stomach to his costume and to the season, and he eats as
+      fashion dictates he should eat, and fills his long-suffering stomach with
+      nickety, tin-pot, poisonous &ldquo;delicacies&rdquo; which he believes are excellent
+      because they are expensive and are prepared by a <i>chef</i> whose income
+      is ten times as much as his own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So we ate our fish and bananas, and then followed on with the crayfish,
+      the women and children shelling them for us as fast as we could eat, the
+      largest and fittest being placed before the old chief and the white man.
+      And then for dessert we had a basket of red-ripe wild mangoes, with a
+      great smooth-leaved pineapple as big as a big man's head, and showing red
+      and green and yellow, and smelling fresh and sweet with the rain of the
+      previous night. Near by where we sat was a pile of freshly-husked young
+      coconuts, which a smiling-faced young girl opened for us as we wanted a
+      drink, carefully pouring out upon the ground all the liquid that remained
+      after Sru and myself had drank, and then putting the empty shells, with
+      their delicate lining of alabaster flesh, into the fire to be consumed,
+      for no one not of chiefly rank must partake even of that which is cast
+      aside by a chief or his guests.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Our first meal of the day finished, we&mdash;that is, Nalik, Sru, and
+      myself&mdash;lay down under the shade or the newly-built thatched roof and
+      smoked our pipes in content, whilst the women and children, attended by
+      the dogs, bathed in the deepest part of the pool, shouting, laughing, and
+      splashing and diving till they were tired. The dogs, mongrel as they were,
+      enjoyed the fun as much as their masters, biting and worrying each other
+      playfully as they swam round and round, and then crawling out upon the
+      bank, they ran to and fro upon the grassy sward till they too were glad to
+      rest under the shade of the clump of coco-palms.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the afternoon&mdash;leaving the rest of our party to amuse themselves
+      by catching crayfish and to make traps for wild pigs&mdash;Sru, Nalik,
+      Toka, and myself set out towards <i>the</i> pool at the head of the river,
+      where, I was assured, we were sure to get a pig or two by nightfall. The
+      dogs evidently were equally as certain of this as Nalik and Sru, for the
+      moment they saw the two men pick up their heavy hunting-spears they sprang
+      to their feet and began howling and yelping in concert till they were
+      beaten into silence by the women. I brought with me a short Snider carbine&mdash;the
+      best and handiest weapon to stop a wild pig at a short range&mdash;and a
+      double-barrelled muzzle-loading shot-gun. The latter I gave to the &ldquo;devil&rdquo;
+       to carry, and promised him that he should fire at least five shots from it
+      at pigeons or mountain fowl before we returned to the village.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Following a narrow footpath which led along the right bank of the stream,
+      we struck directly into the heart of the mountain forest, and in a few
+      minutes the voices, shouts, and laughter of our companions sounded as if
+      they were miles and miles away. Now and then as we got deeper into the
+      dark, cool shade caused by the leafed dome above, we heard the shrill cry
+      of the long-legged mountain cock&mdash;a cry which I can only describe as
+      an attempt at the ordinary barnyard rooster's &ldquo;cock-a-doodle-do&rdquo; combined
+      with the scream of a cat when its tail is trodden upon by a heavy-booted
+      foot. Here in these silent, darkened aisles of the forest it sounded weird
+      and uncanny in the extreme, and aroused an intense desire to knock the
+      creature over; but I forebore to fire, although we once had a view of a
+      fine bird, attended by a hen and chicks, scurrying across the leaf-strewn
+      ground not fifty feet away. Everywhere around us the great grey pigeons
+      were sounding their booming notes from the branches overhead, but of these
+      too we took no heed, for a shot would have alarmed every wild pig within a
+      mile of us.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      An hour's march brought us to the crest of a spur covered with a species
+      of white cedar, whose branches were literally swarming with doves and
+      pigeons, feeding upon small, sweet-scented berries about the size of
+      English haws. Here we rested awhile, the dogs behaving splendidly by lying
+      down quietly and scarcely moving as they watched me taking off my boots
+      and putting on a pair of cinnet (coir fibre) sandals. Just beneath us was
+      a deep canyon, at the bottom of which, so Nalik said, was a tiny rivulet
+      which ran through banks covered with wild yams and <i>ti</i> plants.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There be nothing so sweet to the mouth of the mountain pig as the thick
+      roots of the <i>ti</i>,&rdquo; said Nalik to me in a low voice. &ldquo;They come here
+      to root them up at this time of the year, before the wild yams are well
+      grown, and the <i>ti</i> both fattens and sweetens. Let us start.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At a sign from Sru, Nalilc and the boy Toka, followed by the dogs, went
+      off towards the head of the canyon, so as to drive down to the old man and
+      myself any pigs which might be feeding above, whilst we slipped quietly
+      down the side of the spur to the bank of the rivulet. Sru carried my gun
+      (which I had loaded with ball) as well as his spear. I had my Snider.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      We had not long to wait, for presently we heard the dogs give cry, and the
+      silence of the forest was broken by the demoniac yells of Nalik and the
+      &ldquo;devil,&rdquo; who had started a party of two boars and half a dozen sows with
+      their half-grown progeny, which were lying down around the buttressed
+      sides of a great tika-tree. They (the pigs) came down the side of the
+      rivulet with a tremendous rush, right on top of us in fact. I fired at the
+      leader&mdash;a great yellow, razorbacked boar with enormous tusks&mdash;missed
+      him, but hit a young sow who was running on his port side. Sru, with truer
+      aim, fired both barrels of his gun in quick succession, and the second
+      boar dropped with a bullet through both shoulders, and a dear little black
+      and yellow striped four-months'-old porker went under to the other barrel
+      with a broken spine. Then in another three or four minutes we were kicking
+      and &ldquo;belting&rdquo; about half of the dogs, who, maddened by the smell of blood
+      from the wounded animals, sprang upon them and tried to tear them to
+      pieces; the rest of the pack (Heaven save the term!) had followed the
+      flying swine down the canyon; they turned up at the camp some three or
+      four hours later with bloodied jaws and gorged to distension.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The boar which Sru had shot was lean enough in all conscience, but the
+      young sow and the four-months'-old porker were as round-bodied as barrels,
+      and as fat as only pigs can be fat. After disembowelling them, we hoisted
+      the carcasses up under the branch of a tree out of the reach of the dogs,
+      and sent Toka back to the camp to tell the women to come and carry them
+      away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, as we had still another hour or two of daylight, and I longed to see
+      the deep, deep pool at the head of the river, even if it were but for a
+      few moments, the old chief Nalik and I started off.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It lay before us with many, many bars of golden sunlight striking down
+      through the trees and trying to penetrate its calm, placid bosom with
+      their warm, loving rays. Far below the sound of the waterfall sung to the
+      dying day, and, as we listened, there came to us the dulled, distant
+      murmur of the combing breakers upon the reef five miles away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Tis a fair, good place this, is it not?&rdquo; whispered Nalik, as he sat
+      beside me&mdash;&ldquo;a fair, good place, though it be haunted by the spirits.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aye, a fair, sweet place indeed,&rdquo; I answered, &ldquo;and this pool aid the
+      river below shall for ever be in my dreams when I am far away from here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /><br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
+
+
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+</pre>
+  </body>
+</html>