Irrigating
ditches ran in all directions brimming with clear mountain water;
the roads and paths were rounded, graded and gravelled; the
houses were substantial, well built and well kept; fences, except
of course the rustic, were whitewashed; the native quarters and
"barracks" were well ranged and in perfect order. The place
looked ten years old instead of only two.
We followed Horne to an enclosure, outside the gate of which were
stacked a great number of spears. Inside we found the owners of
those spears squatted before the open side of a small,
three-walled building containing a table and a chair. Horne
placed himself in the chair, lounged back, and hit the table
smartly with his rawhide whip. From the centre of the throng an
old man got up and made quite a long speech. When he had finished
another did likewise. All was carried out with the greatest
decorum. After four or five had thus spoken, Horne, without
altering his lounging attitude, spoke twenty or thirty words,
rapped again on the table with his rawhide whip, and immediately
came over to us.
"Now," said he cheerfully, "we'll have a game of golf."
That was amusing, but not astonishing. Most of us have at one
time or another laid out a scratch hole or so somewhere in the
vacant lot. We returned to the house, Horne produced a
sufficiency of clubs, and we sallied forth. Then came the surprise
of our life! We played eighteen holes-eighteen, mind you-over
an excellently laid-out and kept-up course! The fair greens were
cropped short and smooth by a well-managed small herd of sheep;
the putting greens were rolled, and in perfect order; bunkers had
been located at the correct distances; there were water hazards
in the proper spots. In short, it was a genuine, scientific,
well-kept golf course. Over it played Horne, solitary except on
the rare occasions when he and his assistant happened to be at
the post at the same time. The nearest white man was six days'
journey; the nearest small civilization 196 miles.* The whole
affair was most astounding.
*Which was, in turn, over three hundred miles from the next.
Our caddies were grinning youngsters a good deal like the Gold
Dust Twins. They wore nothing but our golf bags. Afield were
other supernumerary caddies: one in case we sliced, one in case
we pulled, and one in case we drove straight ahead. Horne
explained that unlimited caddies were easier to get than
unlimited golf balls. I can well believe it.
F. joined forces with Horne against B. and me for a grand
international match. I regret to state that America was defeated
by two holes.
We returned to find our camp crowded with savages. In a short
time we had established trade relations and were doing a brisk
business. Two years before we should have had to barter
exclusively; but now, thanks to Horne's attempt to collect an
annual hut tax, money was some good. We had, however, very good
luck with bright blankets and cotton cloth. Our beads did not
happen here to be in fashion. Probably three months earlier or
later we might have done better with them. The feminine mind here
differs in no basic essential from that of civilization. Fashions
change as rapidly, as often and as completely in the jungle as in
Paris. The trader who brings blue beads when blue beads have
"gone out" might just as well have stayed at home. We bought a
number of the pretty "marquise" rings for four cents apiece (our
money), some war clubs or rungas for the same, several spears,
armlets, stools and the like. Billy thought one of the short,
soft skin cloaks embroidered with steel beads might be nice to
hang on the wall. We offered a youth two rupees for one. This
must have been a high price, for every man in hearing of the
words snatched off his cloak and rushed forward holding it out.
As that reduced his costume to a few knick-knacks, Billy retired
from the busy mart until we could arrange matters.
We dined with Horne. His official residence was most interesting.
The main room was very high to beams and a grass-thatched roof,
with a well-brushed earth floor covered with mats. It contained
comfortable furniture, a small library, a good phonograph,
tables, lamps and the like. When the mountain chill descended,
Horne lit a fire in a coal-oil can with a perforated bottom. What
little smoke was produced by the clean burning wood lost itself
far aloft. Leopard skins and other trophies hung on the wall. We
dined in another room at a well-appointed table. After dinner we
sat up until the unheard of hour of ten o'clock discussing at
length many matters that interested us. Horne told us of his
personal bodyguard consisting of one son from each chief of his
wide district. These youths were encouraged to make as good an
appearance as possible, and as a consequence turned out in the
extreme of savage gorgeousness. Horne spoke of them carelessly
as a "matter of policy in keeping the different tribes well
disposed," but I thought he was at heart a little proud of them.
Certainly, later and from other sources, we heard great tales of
their endurance, devotion and efficiency. Also we heard that
Horne had cut in half his six months' leave (earned by three
years' continuous service in the jungle) to hurry back from
England because he could not bear the thought of being absent
from the first collection of the hut tax! He is a good man.
We said good-night to him and stepped from the lighted house into
the vast tropical night.
