Native Talk. 463 



as they could not pronounce it satisfactorily, they insisted 

 that I was deceiving them, and that it was a name of my own 

 invention. One funny old man, who bore a ludicrous resem- 

 blance to a friend of mine at home, was almost indignant. 

 " XJnglung !" said he, " who ever heard of such a name ? ang- 

 lang — anger-lang — that can't be the name of your country; 

 you are playing with us." Then he tried to give a convincing 

 illustration. " My country is Wanumbai — any body can say 

 Wanumbai. I'm an ' orang- Wanumbai ;' but, N-glung ! who 

 ever heard of such a name ? Do tell us the real name of your 

 country, and then when you are gone we shall know how to 

 talk about you." To this luminous argument and remon- 

 strance I could oppose nothing but assertion, and the whole 

 party remained firmly convinced that I was for some reason 

 or other deceiving them. They then attacked me on another 

 point — what all the animals and birds and insects and shells 

 were preserved so carefully for. They had often asked me 

 this before, and I had tried to explain to them that they would 

 be stuffed, and made to look as if alive, and people in my 

 country would go to look at them. But this was not satisfy- 

 ing ; in my country there must be many better things to look 

 at, and they could not believe I would take so much trouble 

 with their birds and beasts just for people to look at. They 

 did not want to look at them ; and we, who made calico and 

 glass and knives, and all sorts of wonderful things, could not 

 want things from Aru to look at. They had evidently been 

 thinking about it, and had at length got what seemed a very 

 satisfactory theory ; for the same old man said to me, in a low 

 mysterious voice, " What becomes of them when you go on 

 to the sea ?" " Why, they are all packed up in boxes," said 

 I. " What did you think became of them ?" " They all come 

 to life again, don't they ?" said he ; and though I tried to joke 

 it off, and said if they did we should have plenty to eat at sea, 

 lie stuck to his opinion, and kept repeating, with an air of 

 deep conviction, "Yes, they all come to life again, that's what 

 they do — they all come to life again." 



After a little while, and a good deal of talking among them- 

 selves, he began again, " I know all about it — oh, yes. Before 

 you came we had rain every day — very wet indeed ; now, ever 

 since you have been here, it is fine hot weather. Oh yes, I 



