Evening star., 1923-09-30

| sengers had gone for them, to tell
them of our invasion. l gave the. man
and the woman some tobacco. and
showed them how a bullet would pass
through a shield or even a cocoanut
tree; then l told them to seek out
/! their chief and tell him that it was
useless for him to fight me, but that
| must stop his fghting the Notu
| people. / said that he had better
come and see me himself next day
offering him safe conduct. So off
they went
| Platforms of skulls were at each
end of this village: hundreds of skulls
| nearly lost Private Ola. here: he
had leant his rife against a tree a
little distance away from the main
! body, and was squstt!ng on the
ground when a Dobuduia crept up
and rushed him with a club. Ola
sprang up toward the enemy Just as
the club swung down for his head
and succeeded in catching the blow
! from the wooden handle on his
shoulder instead of the cutting-stone
disc on his head. Ola then tore the
club from the mans grasp and dashed
ou his brains with it.
These Dobudura may be all right
with the spear but they are no good
with the club" said Ola to me.
Why / asked.
'If that fool had been close enough
to make a side cut at my knee instead
of down cut at my head, he would
have got me-" he said: Ito use the
I 80 snrw 20
folly, as IL is so easily avoided" Ola.
like his father. old Bushimai, was
an expert in the use of a club. The
old man despised shield. consider
ing it useless encumbrance, and
trusted to his clever manipulation of
his club to ward Off missiles.
Night was closing In with the
threaening rain, and then the Notu
calmly told me that the Dobudura
preferred to fight at night, which was
quite contrary to all usual native Gus
! tom. This to me was very alarming
statement. as 1t was also to the police.
II don't like this at ALL" I told Ac-
land, II have been an absolute fool.
This village alone must be able to
furnish quite 800 men, and the other
villages we passed through like
number at least. which makes 900;
while there may be a dozen other
villages within easy reach, for all L
know. 1 should have camped early
in the day in the forest, and built
stockade for the night. II these
beggars choose to rush US In the
dark, the police won't be able to dis
tinguish carriers from Dobudura in
the tangled mess there will be; and
have not enough police to keep up
sufficiency Of sentries round the
camp, without the whole force being
on duty all night"
y
lust before dark, our late prisoner
y walked in and told US that the
men from the Sangara district had
returned, and thes chief proposed to
pay us a visit that night. My SEN
tries were posted at the time, but the
man had got through them and right
up to me, unchallenged. My police
and the Notu protested strongly
against our receiving visitors at
night.
IT'S contrary to all our customs
to receive visitors at night, and there
is something behind this" they said
Return to your chief and tell him
I will receive him in the morning.,
I told the messenger. but that any
one coming near my camp tonight
will be shot Immediately" and off
he went.
IF there is a fight tonight. how are
we to distinguish the. carriers from
the Dobudura" asked Barigi. Let
each carrier keep by him glowing
fire stick, and seize and wave 1t when
the fight comes" he replied, then
we can shoot at the men without fire
in their hands"
II was good advice. and 1 took it,;
and each carrier took good care that
like the wise yirgins--he Kept MS
light burning. The night wore on. we
three Europeans lying on the ground
with our revolvers buckled on, our
rifles ready to grasp, and with our
pockets uncomfortably full of car
tridges; the police that were not on
duty lay on their rifles, and each car
rier kept spear or tomahawk handy.
stationed men at houses at each
end and side Of the village. with fire.
pots full Of live embers, and IN
structed them--in case of an attack
at once to set fire to the dry sago-
leaf roofs, in order to give us light
to fire by. The nerves of the whole
party were now in state OF tense
expectation. The Notu quietly be-
walled their folly in coming with me.
"If we are smashed up" 1 told
Walker and Acland, don't let those
beggars get you alive
All at once I heard the voice OF
village constable, in the circle Of the
sentries, raised in anger, What two
fools are you. walking past me with
out fre-sticks? You know the
orders!" The order had been given
by me that any carrier moving about
the camp was to carry his fire-stick.
The men made no reply, but rushed
past him from our camp into the
night; whereupon he fired after them.
and Immediately there broke out
blaze of fire from the rifles of the
sentries all round the camp. The two
men were Dobudura who, unper-
ceived, had been right through our
camp, studying the disposition of my
force.
Then came the blood-curdling war;
cry of the Dobudura all round us,
which was answered by a yell of de-
fiance from the Kali Kali, and
howl of terror from the Notu. Fire
the houses! Fall in the constabu-
lary! / yelled amid the din.
ghe houses shot up into a blaze
and lit up the village and surround
ing grass for fifty yards; the con-
stabulary and village constables rap
idly formed in line, and the Kali