Page:The further side of silence (IA furthersideofsil00clifiala).pdf/190

 in a cool Devonshire dairy from the liquid, yellow train oil we pour out of tins and dignify by that name in the sweltering tropics. The Sâkai devour it ravenously and in incredible quantities, for not only does it afford them their first full meal for months, but they are eating against time, since they know that in a day or two the Malays will come up- stream to "barter" with them, and that then the bulk of the priceless stuff will be taken from them, almost by force, in exchange for a few axe heads, flints and steels, and the blades of native wood- knives. Therefore, they pack themselves while the opportunity is still with them, and so long as their distended stomachs will bear the strain of a few ad- ditional mouthfuls.

Thus, while the darkness is shutting down over the forest, is the harvest supper devoured in a Sâkai camp, with gluttony and beast noises of satisfaction and repletion; but when the meal has been finished, the sleep of the full-fed may not fall upon the people. The Sakai, who quail before the appalling strength of Nature, at whose hands they have suf- fered an eternal defeat, lie in perpetual terror of the superhuman beings by whom they believe Nature to be animated. Before rest can be sought, the spirits of the forest and of the streams, and the demons of the grain ust be thanked for their gifts, and pro- pitiated for such evil as has been done to them. The inviolate jungle has been felled to make the clearing, its virgin growths being ravaged with axe head and fire brand. The rice has been reaped and brought