Evening star., 1923-09-30
ny CAPT. G. A. W. MoNCKTON.


ny CAPT. C. A. W. M0NCkTON.
Wv YoRD came to me that a pre-
w sss;:a ss'sE drought 's. sss.'9r Hs' Of s'sy ;as
Dobudura tribe, and many
Of that peoples gardens had perisheo'
while a sago swamp. upon which they
relied in times of scarcity. had be-
come dry as tinder and been swept
by fire. Some rain had fallen IN the
immediate vicinity of the Notu VII
lages at ORC bay and had saved the
sNotu gardens, whereppon the popu-
dura people had ascribed their mis-
fortnes to the work of the Notu
sorcerers, and set out to make Things
extremely unpleasant for the Notu.
rIs the Dobudura tribe numerous
one?" I asked. Yes, much more nu-
merous than we are" they told me
The Notu could muster about 3oo
apht,nr men. and. therefore. ] con-
cluded that the Dobudura hao pfoo
ably four or five hundred men
At dawn I marched inland IN search
of the DobuduIa country, accom-
panied by l.. G.. d. Acland ana H. d.
Walker and taking with me apoul
seventy Notu armed with spear clup
and shield, to act as scouts ana
guides, twenty-five copstabulary an"
village constables and about siN'y
Kali Kali under old Chief Giwi
The track. after clearing the coastal
swamp. ran through alternate beits
of tall forest and grass, and was well
worn and defined; it showed signs OF
the recent passage of large bodies
of men.
The Notu marched in 'front.' flung
out as a screen of scouts, n position
they were not at all keen on occupy
ing. We marched until noon. when.
as we neared the edge OF belt OF
forest we were passing through the
Notu came running back and got be-
hind the column, saying that the
Dobudura were in sight. We emerged
onto a grassy plain and sighted a
village surrounded by thick grove
of cocoanut and betel-nut palms;
three or four Dobudura were stand
ing, fully armed and plumed. watch
ing for us to emerge from the forest;
they had evidently discovered our
advance into their country.
They at once gave tongue TO pro-
longed bloodcurdling war cry, "Ooogh!
Aarr!" which was taken up by
number of other men invisible to US;
them came the long deep boom or the
conch shells and wooden war horns:
the beggars clearly meant fight.
ordered the police to kneel in line
Just inside the edge OF the forest. and
then sent the Notu into the open to
yell their own war cry and draw
the Dobudura out from cover.
- = :: x
I'VE could now see dozens of plumed
w Dobudura heads bobbing up and
down in the tall grass about mile
away, but, though the Notu came
tearing back several times in alarm
at having discovered Dobudura
scout close to them, no further ad-
vance was made by them, though
their war cry was going on con-
stantly.
Those fellows are waiting for re-
Inducements" said. I'm take them
in detail"; and advanced upon the
village, while the Dobudura scouts
hung on our flank and rear.
Approaching close to the village, /
ordered the police to rush it, which
they did, only, however, just as rap
idly as the Dobudura vacated it on
the other side. I judged. from the
number of holes in the ground made
by the Dobuduras sticking their
spears upright while they rested, that
about a hundred and fifty men had
been in the village. In the center of
the village there was platform
about four feet high, stacked with
skulls, some quite fresh. ours" said
the Notu.
Dobudura scouts still hung about
us. but their main body had vanished.
A group of four or Ave Of them got
mp a tree, about 500 yards distant,
and. as we continued our march.
watched us and shouted directions
and information of our movements to
invisible Dobudura ahead. / ordered
half dozen constabulary to fire at
the men in the tree, which they did,
Walker and Acland also firing: the
men dropped rapidly from the tree,
but none of them was hit, though the
sound, heard by them for the first
time, must have disturbed their
nerves a little.
AS we continued our march we
found that we were surrounded by
thin ring Of Dobudura. who were now
quite silent. They gave one a funny
feeling-the feeling of being sur
rounded by a thin, invisible net which
always gave when pressed. only to
close again when we relaxed our
pressures Master, be cautious; I
think we shall find big fight" said
Barigi keep close together, and
your tomahawks ready" old Giwi
told his Kali Kali.
I detached half a dozen constabu-
larry and told them to sneak through
the long grass and break the ring of
Dobudura scouts. They left; and
soon I heard shots. The police re-
turned, bringing with them the
spears and clubs of two men they had
shot; but hardly had they returned
when the ring reformed. We
marched on once more, my fianking
police constantly having slight skir
mishes with small bodies of the
Dobudura, but nothing like fight
taking place. The Dobudura were
clearly carrying out soine well de-
fined plan; they were not afraid of
us, that was certain, or they would
have boltedtaltogether; neither did
they mean TO come into open col
lision with us yet.
Village after village we entered,
all being deserted at our approach.
At one spot on our line of march a
very big Dobudura nearly got Sergt.
Kimai.s who was slightly away from
. his men on one flank. The man crept