They then tied them with ropes of rattan to long
poles and carried them off to their village, where they were both
roasted alive over a slow fire. These facts were gathered from some
prisoners afterwards captured by a government force. A strong band
of miners also attacked their villages, and gave no quarter.
On the fifth day of our stay here one of our police came rushing up
to us excitedly with the information that a whaleboat was in sight,
and we knew that a white man would be in it. There was at once a
cry from Monckton, "After you with the razor, Acland." Now it had
been understood that none of us were to shave during the expedition,
and consequently we had grown large crops of beards and whiskers,
and looked a veritable trio of cut-throats. However, it appeared
that Acland had smuggled away a razor-possibly for all we knew to
enable him to captivate some fair Amazon, who might otherwise have
thought he was only good for her cooking pot. Half-an-hour later three
clean-shaven individuals met a tall unshaven man as he stepped out
of his boat on to the beach, and his first remark was, "Oh, I say,
(reproachfully) you fellows, where's that razor!" It was Walsh,
Assistant Resident Magistrate for the Northern Division, and none of
us had met him before.
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