On
Arriving At The Village Where They Were To Leave The River And
Strike Inland, The Coast People Returned, Leaving Mr. Allen To
Get On As He Could.
Here he called on the Tidore lieutenant to
assist him, and procure men as guides and to carry his baggage to
the villages of the mountaineers.
This, however, was not so
easily done. A quarrel took place, and the natives, refusing to
obey the imperious orders of the lieutenant, got out their knives
and spears to attack him and his soldiers; and Mr. Allen himself
was obliged to interfere to protect those who had come to guard
him. The respect due to a white man and the timely distribution
of a few presents prevailed; and, on showing the knives,
hatchets, and beads he was willing to give to those who
accompanied him, peace was restored, and the next day, travelling
over a frightfully rugged country, they reached the villages of
the mountaineers. Here Mr. Allen remained a month without any
interpreter through whom he could understand a word or
communicate a want. However, by signs and presents and a pretty
liberal barter, he got on very well, some of them accompanying
him every day in the forest to shoot, and receiving a small
present when he was successful.
In the grand matter of the Paradise Birds, however, little was
done. Only one additional species was found, the Seleucides alba,
of which be had already obtained a specimen in Salwatty; but he
learnt that the other kinds' of which be showed them drawings,
were found two or three days' journey farther in the interior.
When I sent my men from Dorey to Amberbaki, they heard exactly
the same story - that the rarer sorts were only found several
days' journey in the interior, among rugged mountains, and that
the skins were prepared by savage tribes who had never even been
seen by any of the coast people.
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