The temptation
was too great to withstand. Who could resist flesh? The mouths of our
enemies were watering, as they watched the heavy loads of red meat
carried upon the heads of the rival Baris. In the afternoon, a messenger
hailed the sentry to say that one of the sheiks wished to present
himself to me to crave a cessation of hostilities. Shortly after the
disappearance of this man with a courteous answer, a batch of messengers
arrived to beg that their chief might be received, as they all desired
peace.
On the following morning I held a general levee. About twenty headmen,
or sheiks of principal villages, attended by many of their people, came
to present themselves and to sue for peace. I received the chiefs on my
diahbeeah, and each received a present of a long blue shirt as he
stepped on board. They now seated themselves by Bedden, and a general
explanation took place.
I assured them of my regret that they had forced me into war, as my
mission to the country had been one of peace; at the same time they must
have seen how impossible it was to resist the troops who were armed with
weapons of precision, and drilled in a manner very different from the
companies of slave-hunters.
I told them that I had many thousand cattle, and that had they agreed to
sell me the corn that was absolutely needed for the troops, I should
have paid for it punctually with cows, as I had promised them when I
first entered their district. I also explained that, as they must have
observed, I had never taken a single head of cattle from them, although
I had frequently heard the lowing of their oxen. I had adopted this
conduct, although in actual war, merely to impress upon them the fact
that they might depend upon my word. I had offered to exchange my cattle
for their corn; thus had I taken their cattle, they might have
disbelieved my sincerity.
They replied, that "it must be expected that little differences would
occur at the beginning." They had been incited against us by the Baris
of Belinian, and the war was entirely their own fault. At the same time
they laughed, and said that "hunger was a very bad thing, and that
hungry men would always fill their stomachs, if they could, therefore we
had been quite right to take their corn." They declared that it did not
in the least matter, as the islands were very fertile, and would produce
another crop very quickly; in the mean time they had a good supply
concealed, and their loss only necessitated a little extra labour.
