THE LAST FRONTIER 



mountains to the left. It was as fine a panoramic 

 view as one could imagine. 



Our tents pitched, and ourselves washed and re- 

 freshed, we gave audience to the resident chief, who 

 had probably been waiting. With this potentate 

 we conversed affably, after the usual expectoratorial 

 ceremonies. Billy, being a mere woman, did not 

 always come in for this; but nevertheless she main- 

 tained what she called her "quarantine gloves," and 

 kept them very handy. We had standing orders 

 with our boys for basins of hot water to be waiting 

 always behind our tents. After the usual polite 

 exchanges we informed the chief of our needs 

 firewood, perhaps, milk, a sheep or the like. These 

 he furnished. When we left we made him a present 

 of a few beads, a knife, a blanket or such according 

 to the value of his contribution. 



To me these encounters were some of the most in- 

 teresting of our many experiences, for each man dif- 

 fered radically from every other in his conceptions of 

 ceremony, in his ideas, and in his methods. Our 

 coming was a good deal of an event, always, and 

 each chief, according to his temperament and train- 

 ing, tried to do things up properly. And in that 

 attempt certain basic traits of human nature showed 

 in the very strongest relief. Thus there are three 

 points of view to take in running any spectacle: 



248 



