DANKALLI CHARACTER. 77 



had in the meantime come up and commenced 

 unlading. Zaido placed two mats under the shade 

 of some closely-growing mimosa trees, and one or 

 two of the escort, who seemed willing to patronize 

 me for the sake of the few buttons or needles I 

 could bestow upon them, brought their mats and 

 laid them down all around me. A rude sense of 

 politeness seemed to prevent their pressing incon- 

 veniently near me ; but I suspected that it was 

 merely the hollow affectation of courtesy by the most 

 cold-blooded assassins I ever met or ever read of. 

 By their own showing, not one of them that wore a 

 small tuft of hair upon the boss of his shield but 

 had killed and murdered ten or twelve individuals, 

 which, if only understood as two or three, the men 

 surrounding me must have caused the death of at 

 least a score of their fellow-beings ; and the delight 

 and evident zest with which they spoke of or 

 listened to the several struggles in which they had 

 been engaged, told the fierce and cruel character of 

 these demons in human shape. " Neither the hos- 

 pitality nor the high sense of honour that charac- 

 terizes the savage of America or of the Oceanic 

 Islands, is to be found among the Dankalli tribes. 

 Murder is equally productive of renown as is the 

 most honourable fight ; and the same triumphant 

 badges are worn by the valiant soldier and the 

 cowardly assassin. The companion of the day and 

 the sharer of your food will, under cover of night, 

 strike without remorse his knife into vour throat ; 



