[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]

RECRUITING FOR NATIVES 83

being scolded. The scene was so gruesome that I
had Belni shut up again, and we watched all night,
for Macao was determined to take the murderer‘s life.
It was a dry, moonlit night; one of the boys was
writhing with a pain in his stomach, and we could do
nothing to help him, so they were all CONVINCED it was
caused by Belni’s relatives, and wanted to sail immedi-
ately. A warm breeze had driven mosquitoes to the
cutter; it was a most unpleasant night.

Next noon the natives appeared, about twenty
strOng, but without the second murderer. They said
the shot had hit him, and that he had died during the
night. This might have been true, and as we could
do nothing against the village anyway, we let the
matter drop, especially as they had brought us Bour-
baki’s rifle and two tusked pigs. The chief said he
hoped we were satisfied with him, and would not
trouble anyone but the murderers.

We returned to the cutter, and the pigs were put
in the hold, where they seem to have kept good
company with Belni, after a little preliminary squeal-
ing and shrieking. Then we sailed northward, with
' a breeze that carried us in four hours over the same
distance for which we hadtaken twenty-four last time.
It was a bitterly cold night. We decided to return
home, fearing the boys would murder Belni in an un-
watched moment, as they had asked several times,
‘ when the sea was high, whether we would not throw
Belni into the water now. The passage to Santo was
very rough. The waves thundered against the little
old cutter, and we had a nasty tide-rip. We were