i84 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



slope comes down to the sea, separated therefrom by a line 

 of pandanus palms. To the north is a jungle-covered spur, 

 along the foot of which is a palm-tree gully ; to the south 

 a ridge with low-growing, wind-bent acacias. The gully 

 enters the boulder-strewn inlet under the shade of much 

 leafage. The great Pacific gurgles at the base of giant 

 rocks, among which a ragged palm (Caryota) hears immense 

 bunches of yellow insipid fruit, each containing two coffee- 

 like berries. Panjoo is a favourite objective, for it may be 

 approached from various directions, each pleasant, but as a 

 resort for a crocodile it is about as unpromising a locality 

 as could be imagined. 



Thither one bright November morning we (" Paddy," 

 the most silent and alert of black boys, and myself) went. 

 The tide was out, and we found a comparatively easy track 

 close to the margin of the sea, having occasionally to wade 

 through shallow pools and to clamber over rocks thickly 

 studded with limpets. 



Years gone by a huge log of pencil cedar had been 

 cast among the boulders at Panjoo, and as I looked at the 

 log " Paddy " with a start indicated the presence of a 

 novelty — a crocodile apparently in repose, with its head in 

 the shadow of a boulder. I was carrying a pea rifle more 

 for company than for anything else ; for " Paddy," though 

 of a most cheerful disposition, never made remarks. His 

 conversation for the most part was compounded of eloquent 

 looks and expressive gestures. A monosyllable to him was 

 a laborious sentence ; four or five words a speech. Once 

 upon a time, it is said, a youthful German inadvertently 

 blundered into a railway carriage reserved for Moltke. The 

 glare of the great man brought three words of respectful 

 apology for the intrusion. The great man exclaimed with 

 an air of exasperated boredom — " Insufferable talker ! " — of 

 course, all in German. " Paddy," like Moltke, was, averse 

 from speech, unless when speech was absolutely vital. 

 The presence of a lo-foot crocodile of unknowledgeable 

 ferocity was a vital occasion. We hastily discussed in 

 staccato whispers our plan of campaign. It was arranged 



