150 
VILLAGE FEUDS. 
behind the ear, or carefully inserted in some 
crevice of the wall. I often poke out from the 
wall numbers of these balls, left by persons who 
have come to give information or bring some 
object to exchange, and gone off too engrossed 
in the reward to remember their uncoveted pos- 
sessions. 
A state of war exists between the villages of 
Ridol, Waitidal, and Eitabel (our village) on the 
one hand, and Kaleobar (one of the largest vil- 
lages on the island), Kelaan, and Lamdesar on 
the other. Many of the villagers show us recent 
wounds received in a raid made a few weeks 
before our arrival. The bamboo spikes in the 
ground round the village were set to prevent 
such clandestine attacks. During the day they 
are removed from the paths which lead to the 
fields and wells ; it is the duty of the first out- 
goer in the morning to open the gate and re- 
move the spikes. At sunset, when the last man 
has returned to the village, the pathway is care- 
fully reset, and the gateway barricaded for the 
night. 
As the daily dread of attack by the Kaleobar 
tribes on our village has restricted operations to 
a narrow area, and kept us in a constant state of 
suspense and anxiety, H. proposed to the post- 
