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H. Wilfrid Walker - Wanderings Among South Sea Savages
took a short rest. My Negritos, however, wanted to make it a long one, as they seemed to be very fond of
yarning, and when I insisted on their hurrying on, Vic got frightened and declared they might clear out
and leave us, which would certainly have been a misfortune. At length we arrived at a chief's hut, where
we had arranged to spend the night. It was situated at the top of a tall, grassy peak, from which I got a
wonderful view of the surrounding country: steep wooded gorges and precipices surrounded us on all
sides, and in the distance the flat country from whence we had come, and far far away the sea looked like
glistening silver. The flat country presented an extraordinary contrast to the rugged mountains which
surrounded me. It was so wonderfully flat, not the smallest hill to be seen anywhere, except where the
lonely isolated peak of Mount Aryat arose in the distance, and far away one could just see a long chain of
lofty mountains. The effect of the shadows of the distant clouds on the flat country was very curious.
Early the next morning, at sunrise, the view looked very different, though just as beautiful. The chief
seemed very friendly. He was a brother of my old friend, with whom I had stayed the previous night.
This chief, however, was very different to his brother, being very dignified, but he had a very good and
kind face, whilst my old friend was a "typical comic opera" kind of character. From what I could
understand these two and another brother ruled over this tribe of Negritos between them, each being
chief of a third of the tribe Soon after my arrival I turned in, as I was very tired and feverish and had had
no sleep the previous night. The Negritos, as usual, were very merry and made a great noise for so small
a people. I never saw such people for laughter whenever anything amused them, which is very often;
they were a great contrast in this respect to the Filipinos. This natural gaiety helps to explain their many
and varied dances, one of which consists in their running round after each other in a circle.
I felt very much better next morning, and we started off very early, our numbers being increased by the
chief and many of his men, so that I now found myself escorted by quite an army. I took note round here
of the methods used by the Negritos in climbing tall, thick trees to get fruit and birds-nests. They had
long bamboo poles lashed together, which run up to one of the highest branches fully one hundred feet
from the ground. They often fastened them to the branch of a smaller tree, and thence slanting upwards to
the top of a tall tree, perhaps as much as sixty feet and more away from the smaller tree. These Negritos
axe splendid climbers, but it seemed wonderful for even a Negrito to trust himself on one of these
bamboos stretching like a thread from tree to tree so far from the ground. I shall never forget the
scramble we now had into the deepest gorge of all, and how we followed the bed of a dried-up stream,
which in the rainy season must be a series of cascades and waterfalls, since we had to scramble all the
way over large slippery boulders covered with ferns and BEGONIAS. We at length came to a
tempting-looking river full of large pools of clear water, into which I longed to plunge. The banks were
extremely beautiful, being overhung by the forest, and the rocky cliffs were half hidden by large
fleshy-leaved climbers and many other beautiful tropical plants. It was one of those indescribably
beautiful spots that one so often encounters in the tropical wilds, and which it is impossible to paint in
words. A troop of monkeys were disporting themselves on a tree overhanging the river. Vic was most
anxious for me to allow him to shoot one, but I have only shot one monkey in my life, and it is to be the
last, and I always try and prevent others from doing so. We waded the river in a shallow place, and
climbed up the steep hill on the other side. We had gone a good distance over hills covered with tall
grass, and I was now looking forward to a bit of decent walking, as hitherto it had been nearly all
miserable scrambling work, and the Negritos told Vic that the worst was now over. But we were
approaching a hut, overhanging a rocky cliff, when we heard the sound of angry voices and wailing
above us, and we soon perceived four Negritos (three men and a woman) approaching us. I thought the
old woman was mad; she was making more noise than all the others put together, shouting and screaming
in her fury. At first I thought they might be hostile Negritos who resented our intrusion, but they
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