20 GOVERNMENT. 



appeared that the chief had aimed at him, but his musket missed 

 lire, when Pukka-pukka shot him through the back with his snider. 

 The scene of the tragedy was familiar to me, as I had landed there 

 the year before. Pukka-pukka, who is a sensible young man and of 

 by no means a bloodthirsty disposition, did not like my taking him 

 to task for the part he took in this raid ; and he protested more than 

 once in a somewhat injured tone that his people did not fight with- 

 out o-ood cause. In his case, I felt confident that he was not tempted 

 by the mere love of bloodshedding, the truth being that through the 

 able tutorship of Mai, all old feuds are kept alive in the minds of the 

 young men of the village, who, in their desire to distinguish them- 

 selves, come to regard such grievances as fair grounds for war. We 

 soon learned that the Fanarite natives would seize the first oppor- 

 tunity to retaliate; and that head-money to a large amount' had 

 been offered for the head of a native of Santa Anna, and particularly 

 for the head of Pukka-pukka. 



The chiefs of the islands of Bougainville Straits possess far 



greater power over their peoples than that which is wielded by most 



of the chiefs we encountered at the St. Christoval end of the group. 



At Santa Anna and at Ugi, the position of the chief is almost an 



empty honour ; and some man of spirit, though not of principle, 



such as Mai in the former island and Rora at Ugi, usurps by his 



fighting prowess a large share of the power. On the St. Christoval 



coast I met several such chiefs, who possess no influence beyond 



their o\vn district, and often very little in that. Occasionally, as I 



have before observed, a chief is found who, like Taki at Wano, 



exercises a powerful influence over the less pretentious chiefs of 



neighbouring islands and districts. Some of the Guadalcauar chiefs 



are very powerful ; but with them I had no personal intercourse ; 



and I prefer to confine my remarks to those portions of the gTou]> 



with which I became acquainted. Returning, then, to the chiefs of 



the islands of Bougainville Straits, I may enumerate them in their 



order of importance — Gorai in the Shortland Islands, Mule at 



Treasury, Kurra-kurra and^Tomimas in Faro or Fauro, and Krepas 



at Choiseul Bay. There is constant communication between the 



natives of these islands, more particularly between those of Treasury, 



the Shortlands, and Faro, the distances between the islands varying 



between 15 and 25 miles. Intermarriages are frequent between the 



natives of these islands. They all speak the same language ; and 



viot uncommonly a man shifts liis home from one island to another 



