102 
Wild Life in Southern Seas. 
the reef, falling into holes every now and then, 
and clambering out again, half-drowned. The 
group of girls saw us coming, and gave the 
wicked E’eu a warning cry. She turned, and at 
once made off for the shore, making a detour to 
avoid the vengeance she knew was coming. She 
gained the beach first, barefooted as she was, and, 
dropping her rod, sprang up the path like a 
goat. My child, I saw, was strapped tightly 
upon her carrier’s back by two cross-belts of 
green fau bark, which came up under her (E’eu’s) 
armpits and met across her naked bosom. That 
the infant was drenched through and through 
I could see, for her white linen sun-bonnet 
hung flat and limp over her little head. 
We stopped to break off a couple of stout 
switches and started in pursuit, reaching my 
door just as E’eu darted into the inner room 
to disencumber herself of her burden. 
Two minutes later we haled her out on to 
the sward, and Hakala gave her a beating that 
she will remember to the end of her life. This 
sounds brutal, but it was the only way of making 
her understand the nature of the shock my 
parental feelings had sustained ; a cuff or two 
would have done more harm than good. Half 
