Evening star., 1923-09-23
Garry Power Of Law Into Region Where Men FIunt Men

The prisoners told US that the Dor
iri were now shouting challenges and
! explaining that they were about to
| make an end to the whole lot of us.
| We waited some time; the Maisina
whining and collapsing from funk,
and the constabulary strung up to the
/ last pitch Of nervous tension, walt
ing with finger on trigger for the ex-
| pected attack; one private, in his
excitement, accidently exploding his
rifle. l fancy that the Doriri were
not quite certain of our exact posi-
| tion, as we kept very quiet and the
| report of a rife is difficult to locate
in thick cover. also I think they were
no more anxious to engage US in that
| horrible spot than we were anxious
to receive them there.
Barton and sI consulted, for some
thing had to be done, as the Maisina
were getting into a state OF hysteria;
we decided to bring matters to a head
by sending ten Of the, constabulary to
crawl through the grass and locate
the Doriri, with q view then to ad-
vancing our whole force. The ten
come on. Pressing forward. we found
that the police had emerged from the
grass upon long open stretch of
sandy river bed, down which large
body of armed natives were dancing
toward them, yelling furiously and
brandishing spears, clubs and shields
The police were standing in line,
holding their fire for orders; ran up
to them with some additional police,
and ordered them to fire into the ad-
cancing natives. Crash went vol
ley, two men fell, shot dead, while
many others staggered into the sur
rounding long grass, more or less
badly wounded.
The Doriri, though apparently
frightfully surprised at the effect of
the rife fire, still held their ground:
but, as the steadily firing constabu-
larry line moved rapidly toward them.
they began an orderly retreat We
followed the tracks of the retreating
party down the Ibinamu tnll its juno
toned with the Adaua; here we found
that the greater portion OF the at
tacking force had crossed to the other
side of the river.
-
THE Maisina. from a state of utter
i collapse, had now ascended to
the highest pinnacle of tubilation;
loud were their crows and great their
boasting. "The- hitherto undefeated
Doriri had met a force comprising
Maisina, and had retired before it
with loss, and were now in full re-
treatp'
We now prepared to cross the
river in pursuit of the retreating
Doriri; rafting was out Of the ques-
tion, as the river was eighty yards
wide, ran shoulder high. and was as
swift as a millrace. The first thing
to do was to place a piquet on the
opposite bank to cover our crossing:
accordingly, some of the strongest
swimmers amongst the constabulary
waded and swan across. with their
rifles strapped on their shoulders and
cartridges tied on the tops of their
heads, while they were covered by
watching men on our bank.
Having crossed, they yelled that
there was a shallow bank in the mid
die of the river, affording secure foot
hold; on that shoal, therefore, we sta
toned some strong men, who held the
end of our rope; then we all crossed
safely on it, and there clung together,
until the constabulary, after repeated
attempts, succeeded in carrying the
rope over the remainder of the river,
where they tied it to a tree. We then
left our strongest men to hold on to
the roid-river end and struggled
across, with the loss of a few bags of
rice; after which we hauled the rest
| of the men over. they clinging to the
| end of the rope.
Following the track of the retreat
| ing natives, we came to the Domara
river, where the Doriri foot tracks
dispersed in various directions. The
prisoners now told US that Domara
village was close at hand, and there
accordingly we went, only to find IL
freshly deserted. 1t was a village
containing. l should estimate, about
IS0 to 200 men; 1t was circular in
shape, and surrounded by a moat,
partly natural and partly artificial,
ranging from fifteen to twenty feet
in width. and about ten feet in depth,
clean and well kept. The houses
were elevated on poles of from
twenty to thirty feet high; the poles
| were merely props, as the main
weight of the house was sustained by
stout tree trunks, forming a central