On one I counted twenty-five; there
were also long rows of the jawbones of pigs, and a few crocodiles'
heads. These villages were all deserted, the natives having fled. At
length we came to what appeared, from its great size, to be the
chief village, which we later learnt was named Dobodura. It extended
some distance, and stood amid thousands of coconut palms. Here we
determined to camp, but we found that most of the police had rushed
on ahead after the Doboduras, much to Monckton's annoyance, for it
was risky, to say the least, as the enemy might easily have attacked
each party separately. But the police and carriers, now that they had
"tasted blood," seemed to get quite out of hand, and their savagery
coming to the surface, they rushed about as if demented. However,
they soon returned with more captured weapons of warfare, having
killed two more men, and they also brought two prisoners, a young man
and a young woman. The prisoners looked horribly frightened, having
never seen a white man before, and they thought they would be eaten:
so Constable Yaidi told me.
The man was a stupid looking oaf, and seemed too dazed to speak. The
woman, however, if she had been washed, would have been quite
good-looking.
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