Our boys, however, did not look quite so happy, especially my boy
Arigita, who was a son of old Giwi, chief of the Kaili-kailis. He --
old Giwi -- had gone on the previous day with three or four large
canoes laden with rice and manned by men of the Kaili-kaili and
Arifamu tribes, and we intended taking more canoes and men from the
Okeina tribe EN ROUTE.
Our expedition was partly a punitive one, as a tribe named Dobodura
had been continually raiding and slaughtering the Notu tribe on the
coast, with no other apparent reason than the filling of their own
cooking pots.
Although the Notus lived on the coast, little was known of them,
though they professed friendship to the government. The Doboduras,
on the other hand, were a strong fighting tribe a short way off in
the unknown interior, no white men having hitherto penetrated into
their country: hence they knew nothing about the white man except by
dim report.
After we had settled our account with them we intended going in search
of a curious swamp-dwelling tribe, whose feet were reported to be
webbed, like those of a duck, and many were the weird and fantastic
rumours that reached our ears concerning them.
The sea soon got very "choppy," and up went our sail, and we flew along
pretty fast.
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