110 ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH SEAS 
“The natives began to gather, and looked aghast at the 
destruction. Our belongings lay open before them, and some 
decked themselves with the bed curtains, now torn to ribbons. 
One picked up a purse of money that had fallen to the floor, 
and handed it to us. They began to pull out the books and 
clothing from the lime, and at sight of every broken thing 
they exclaimed, ‘Awe, sheenissa!’ (Oh, what a pity!) 
“We wondered that they did not go to their plantations, 
and I ventured to ask Popoina, ‘Are you not going to see 
your gardens?’ ‘We will go when there is a roof over your 
heads,’ he said. Great was our surprise! We had scarcely 
time to realize the damage done, and yet the Fotunese, with- 
out thinking of their own losses, were beginning to re- 
pair ours. 
“Encouraged by their unselfishness, we set to work. My 
wife got the women to wash the clothes. The men cut away 
the broken walls and hauled the roof down on the floor, thus 
making a temporary store and bedroom. With the thatch 
they mended the gable of the dining room, and repaired its 
roof. The women and girls carried away the lime. When 
we offered the workers food, they said, “Keep your food, 
lest you should be hungry; never mind us.’ Then the natives 
of Isia came to help, and about seventy were at work. 
“Fach evening we all went over to Nailo’s house to sleep. 
He made a bed of reeds for us, and was at the door to re- 
ceive us as we entered. Saloki thoughtfully carried over, 
unwashed, baby’s bassinet, a chair, a fan, and some matting. 
All were kind and pleasant, willing to help us in our need, 
and it was not difficult to pay them. After four days the 
dining room was finished. A bedroom was put in order 
upstairs; so we were able to return to our patched-up home, 
and the natives went to see their gardens. 
“The destruction of food was not so great as was at first 
feared. There was no famine. “There’s plenty of food,’ 
said an optimistic native—a rare individual in the New 
Hebrides; ‘this hurricane is not so big as some in the old 
