PARTING WITH THE NATIVES 247 



number of axe-heads, knives and other pieces of steel 

 and iron, and when the people saw what they were 

 going to be given they became a crowd of madmen. 

 I distributed the things, while Marshall stood by with 

 a big piece of wood and kept them from rushing into the 

 place and seizing everything at once. They shouted 

 and raved and screamed and grew almost pale with 

 excitement, and the various expressions of greed and 

 cunning and anger and delight in their faces were most 

 interesting to watch. 



After we had given them their presents we walked 

 towards the canoes, and then they began to set up their 

 horrible wail. A few of them picked up pieces of cloth 

 and matting, through the middle of which they thrust 

 their heads and then began to howl with their hands 

 over their eyes. I took a last look round the houses 

 to see that nothing of value had been left behind and on 

 going to the store-house I met a man, one of our best 

 friends, coming out of it with a tin of rice under his 

 arm. He immediately put down the tin, tore off from 

 a climbing bean that grew by the house a trail of 

 leaves a yard or two long, and wound them about his 

 head and body. Then he burst into tears and the 

 most heartrending sobs, which changed in a moment, 

 when he caught my eye, into a shout of laughter. 



When we finally got into the canoes all the men 

 came down to the water's edge and wailed, while some 

 of them sat down in the water and smeared them- 

 selves with mud. In the meantime we could see their 

 women going off into the jungle carrying tins fuh of 

 their possessions to hide there, and it is probable that 



