Slaying the Murderer of His Parents. 
123 
tentive observer had kept himself aloof from the quarrel, believed the 
time ripe enough for both satisfying his revenge, and saving himself 
and his chief. Overcome by his immoderate passion for drink, Waihahi 
threw himself into his hammock, and soon fell into a sleep from which 
he was never to wake again. Like a lynx, Maicerwari had followed his 
every movement, like a shadow he had sneaked after him over the ground, 
and now with eyes flashing revenge, he stands beside the hated mur- 
derer, his war-club is slowly raised — and with, a crash it falls on the head 
of his mortal enemy. The victim’s brother, who was also present, buried 
the body in the same house: the residents fired the village and withdrew 
to another district. 
421. The deepest silence prevailed over the whole settlement during 
the long examination. With the ending of the enquiry, the people around 
whispered lightly to one another, while the crowds of women and girls 
stood somewhat farther aside, each one watching our faces as well as every 
twitch of the muscles on the part of William and Maicerwari. Though 
an unmistakable confusion clouded the countenance of William, for he 
knew only too well that he had done wrong in not reporting the occur- 
rence to Mr. King, the boy stood up before us all the more unabashed and 
calm. What he had done was done with the highest sense of duty: he 
would have been despised had he delayed doing so. Blood for Blood, 
Life for Life, was the idea that the boy had first learned to express, the 
sentiment that he had imbibed with his mother’s milk. 
422. We looked forward to Mr. King’s verdict with extreme tension 
but were more than surprised when he not only wrote out his notes of 
the case, but also gave orders for the exhumation of the body, so as to 
confirm personally the truth of what had been stated : at the same time 
he held Maicerwari prisoner so as to take him to Georgetown and send 
him up for trial, which in spite of all protestations on our part, and 
to my brother’s great annoyance, was subsequently effected. Strictly 
speaking, he had no legal right to take such action, because Cumaka was 
situate on a stretch of land to which the Venezuelans believed they had 
just as much title as England, and had accordingly been declared neu- 
trat, and because the lad, to whom the religious and moral laws of the 
white people were absolutely unknown, had only followed his own con- 
victions. 
423. Unfortunately the poor untrammelled boy, accustomed to free- 
dom. had to spend a year in prison before being acquitted. T must can- 
didly admit that this overdone zeal of Mr. King cooled my attachment 
for an otherwise honest man, and up to this very day I cannot forget the 
twelve-month which he certainly made the unliappiest in the lad's life. 
424. Xext morning the exhumation of the corpse had to be proceed- 
ed with, when we as well as William, the boy, and all the Indians who 
had been present at the murder, had to attend as witnesses. But where 
were we going to get the people to undertake the job? Just the very 
mention of it alone had struck such wholesale terror into the Indians 
that no power on earth could prevail on them to take even a spade in 
their hands. Mr. King would have forced William and the other In- 
dians in vain to attend otherwise than as idle spectators, had he not 
railed upon our whole crew in the name of the law to assist him in 
carrying out his legal duty, a demand which had to be obeyed. The 
