Page:Scented isles and coral gardens- Torres Straits, German New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies, by C.D. Mackellar, 1912.pdf/242

194 goods, to be instantly deprived of all by his village, with the exception of his umbrella, which none of them wanted. The Captain was as puzzled as I was at the welcome they gave me. If I looked at a flower, a piece of coral, or a cocoanut, they rushed to get it for me, and they hung on my every movement, eager to anticipate my every wish. They thrust things on me. The umbrella had a defective catch, and every now and then as I talked with the Captain it came down over my head like an extinguisher. This was ludicrous, but there was not a smile on the faces of our bodyguard; only when the Captain and I burst out laughing at each recurrence of this absurd thing, and they saw they might laugh without being rude, then they shrieked with delight. Then I gave one the umbrella to carry, and he strutted in front simply overwhelmed with pride, and the others full of envy, so they had all to get it in turn. It was very funny to see them striding along with the umbrella, throwing glances over their shoulders to see if I was pleased.

When we got to the end of the island we found the two other Englishmen there. I asked them if there had been the same excitement over them, but they said they had passed unnoticed, so that it was more puzzling than ever. Anyway, I was the recipient of all the honours that day. When we visited the village, where as usual no women were visible, I was conducted to a house and allowed to look in, and I am not quite sure that the hospitality was meant to end there. The women all giggled, and I am pretty sure were not in seclusion through any wish of their own. They had two “Temples,” both very curious, with their coloured wooden carvings of idols and the rest. All these natives, though quite nude, were much painted and decorated, wore nose-rings, ears en-