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H. Wilfrid Walker - Wanderings Among South Sea Savages
victors, for as such they no doubt regarded us, as well as saviours of their tribe. I could quite imagine the
Notu warriors bragging on their return of their own deeds of valour, although all the killing was done by
the police. Meanwhile, however, as we passed through the squatting crowds, we were greeted with loud
cries of "orakaiba" (peace).
CHAPTER 9. On the War-Trail Once More.
Further Expedition Planned - Thank-offerings of Notu Chiefs - The Voyage - A Gigantic Flatfish -
Negotiating a Difficult Bar - Moat Unhealthy Spot in New Guinea - Hostility of Natives - Precautions at
Night - Catching Ground Sharks and a "Groper" - Shark-flesh a Delicacy to the Natives - Wakened by a
War Cry - A False Alarm - A Hairbreadth Escape - Between "Devil and Deep Sea" - Dangers of the
Goldfield - Two Miners Eaten Alive - Unexpected Visit from a White Man - "Where's that Razor?" -
Crime of Cutting Down a Coconut Tree - Walsh's Camp - Torres Straits Pigeons - My Boy an
ex-Cannibal - A Probable Trap - Relapse into Cannibalism of our Own Allies - Narrow Escape from a
New Guinea Mantrap - Attack on a Village - Second Visit to Dobodura - Toku's Exploit - Interview with
our Prisoners - Reasons for Cannibalism - The Night Attack on our Camp and Enemies' Fear of our
Rifles described by our Prisoners - Bravery of one of our Carriers - Treatment of a Prisoner.
"Yes," said Monckton on our return to the coast, "we have got to punish those Doboduras at all costs.
They are the worst brutes I've come across in New Guinea." And Monckton knew what he was talking
about, as he had been a resident magistrate in British New Guinea for many years and had travelled all
over the country, and had a wider experience of the cannibals than any man living.
This tribe (as has already been mentioned), when they capture a prisoner, tie him to a post, keep him
alive for days, and meanwhile feed on him slowly by cutting out pieces of flesh, and prevent his bleeding
to death with a special preparation of their own concoction, and finally, when he is nearly dead, they
make a hole in the side of the head and feed on the hot fresh brains.
Both Acland and I myself fully agreed with Monckton, as we were not by any means grateful to the
Doboduras for giving us the worst fright of our lives. We had, it is true, killed a good many of them, but
we recognised the fact that our force was insufficient to hold its own, much less to punish these brutal
tribesmen. So we determined to journey up north and get help from the magistrate of the Northern
Division on the Mambare River, before returning to the Dobodura country.
That evening four Notu chiefs came into camp to thank us for killing their enemies, and they brought
with them presents of dogs' teeth and shell necklaces, and seemed greatly excited, all talking at once,
each trying to out-talk his fellows, and wagged their heads at us in turn. We left very early the next
morning in our whaleboat for the Kumusi River, but left all our carriers and stores with most of the
police behind in one of the Notu villages to await our return, as we now felt sure that we could trust the
Notu tribe.
It was a hot and uneventful voyage. A fish which looked like an enormous sole, but which was larger
than the whaleboat, jumped high in the air not many yards away. Toward evening we arrived opposite
the bar of the Kumusi River, and we had a very uncomfortable few minutes getting through the breakers
into the river, for if we had been upset we should soon have become food for the sharks and crocodiles,
which literally swarmed here. We got through the worst part safely, but then stuck fast on a small
sand-bank, and one or two good-sized breakers half-filled the boat; but we all jumped out and hauled her
off the sand into the deep, calm waters beyond.
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