But The Manner In Which They Were Invariably A Little
Behindhand Was Quite Ludicrous.
During the night the news had spread, and early in the
morning (23rd) a fresh party arrived, belonging to the Tekenika,
or Jemmy's tribe.
Several of them had run so fast that
their noses were bleeding, and their mouths frothed from
the rapidity with which they talked; and with their naked
bodies all bedaubed with black, white, [1] and red, they looked
like so many demoniacs who had been fighting. We then
proceeded (accompanied by twelve canoes, each holding four
or five people) down Ponsonby Sound to the spot where poor
Jemmy expected to find his mother and relatives. He had
already heard that his father was dead; but as he had had
a "dream in his head" to that effect, he did not seem to
care much about it, and repeatedly comforted himself with
the very natural reflection - "Me no help it." He was not
able to learn any particulars regarding his father's death, as
his relations would not speak about it.
Jemmy was now in a district well known to him, and
guided the boats to a quiet pretty cove named Woollya,
surrounded by islets, every one of which and every point had
its proper native name. We found here a family of Jemmy's
tribe, but not his relations: we made friends with them;
and in the evening they sent a canoe to inform Jemmy's
mother and brothers. The cove was bordered by some acres
of good sloping land, not covered (as elsewhere) either by
peat or by forest-trees.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 341 of 776
Words from 91344 to 91609
of 208183
