PECULIARITIES OF THE NATIVE TRIBE
Within an hour the feast was ready, and the men in the open were already
making merry with the maidens who prepared the meal. George and Harry
frequently nudged each other, as they caught the eyes of some of the
native boys who were very attentive to the gentler sex.
Within the Chief's dwelling there was the most animated conversation
indulged in by the Chief, Uraso and John, and to this number were added
the Chief's brother, and a handsome man who was probably one of the
Chief's principal advisors. Muro and Uraso were the interpreters.
The latter, by turns, told the Chief where they sailed from, and what
their history had been for the past three years. They told about the
wonderful Professor, and all concerning John, and what part the two boys
had taken in the transformation of the island.
"But where is this wonderful ship?" asked the Chief.
"On the other side of the island," answered Uraso.
"Then why do you not bring it here?"
"We should have done so, but we did not know we had a friend here."
"I want to see the wonderful place you have told me about,--your home,
and how you make people happy," said the Chief.
John's face lit up when this was interpreted to him.
"What do your people work at?" the Chief abruptly asked Muro.
"We make many curious things, like the articles you have here," and he
pointed to George's belongings, which were still lying about.
The Chief hurriedly gathered them up and handed them to George. The
latter, after turning to John, refused to take them, and addressing
Uraso, said: "Tell him that I want him to take them, and my gun, as
well."
The Chief could not understand this, and at first refused, but John, as
well as Uraso, insisted, and the latter said:
"These boys can make these things, and they do not feel that they are
sacrificing anything, beyond what it is their duty to do."
The Chief looked doubtfully at the boys, as he remarked: "Do you tell me
that these _memees_, (Boys) made these things?"
Uraso and Muro both assured them that such was the case, and added: "And
still more wonderful things."
After some conversation Uraso turned to John and said: "The Chief wishes
to send a runner to bring the ship to the harbor here. Hasmo may
accompany him."
This arrangement had John's approval, and when Hasmo was advised of the
mission, he jumped up with delight, and, together with the Chief's
fleetest messenger, speeded off to make the intervening twenty-five
miles.
It was not much of a task for the two men. In less than four hours,
Sutoto saw two men on the shore, one of them waving a signal that he
understood. A boat was put off, and when the runners came aboard, and
the news imparted, all on board sprang to their places, the anchor was
hurriedly taken up, and the _Pioneer_ soon rounded the point, while they
all eagerly scanned the shore.
The Chief and his visitors remained in the "palace" for three hours,
while the latter told and retold the stories which so much interested
the chieftain. Then John began to question him upon matters that more
nearly concerned their visit.
"Ask him," he said, "if they have any Krishnos here?"
"He does not know what they are," answered Muro.
"Does he believe in a Great Spirit?"
"No he has never heard anything of that kind."
"Ask him if he knows who makes the rain and the sunshine, and the
clouds."
"He says that the questions are surprising to him."
"Has he never thought of those things?"
"No; all he knows is that he lives and that he is a Chief and is the one
who must govern the people."
"Does he know why he is the Chief?"
"Yes; because he is stronger than any one else."
"That would certainly make him a Chief," remarked Harry. "I never saw
such a big man."
"Do they have any big holes in the ground!"
When the question was asked he waited a moment, and then slowly shook
his head.
"They have nothing of that kind to his knowledge."
The countenances of Harry and George fell. John noticed it, and smiled
at the disappointment.
"There are no caves around here," said George.
"Are there any mountains on the island?"
"There are high hills."
"Have they any neighbors, or different tribes?"
"Yes; to the north, (pointing in that direction) are some bad people,
but they belong to him."
"Why do they not live near to the village!"
"Because they would make the people bad."
"What did they do that was so bad?"
"They stole and lied."
"From whom did they steal?"
"From the Chief."
"Did they steal from each other?"
"No; they could not steal from each other."
At this remark the boys laughed. John began to be interested now in his
questionings.
"Do you mean it is not wrong to steal from each other, but only from the
Chief?"
He nodded an assent. This was a curious bit of reasoning. It needed
some explanation. John continued:
"Why is it wrong to steal from the Chief and not from each other?"
At this question the Chief did not answer as promptly as usual. He
weighed the question in his mind. He smiled as though to say: How can it
be wrong for people to take things from each other? They do not own
anything. No one but the Chief owns things.
His answer, when finally given, was not at all clear, at least so the
boys thought.
"The Chief in his wisdom gives to all alike; and when he gives it the
property still belongs to him and not the people; but if they take it
from the Chief then they are robbers."
"Ask him," said John, "whether, if when he gives anything to one of his
people, and it still belongs to him, after he gives it, why it is not
stealing from him, if some one takes it away from the one he gave it
to?"
The Chief was not at all taken aback at this question. Pointing to the
sun, he said:
"That is a great Chief. He gives seed to the people, and they plant it.
But the great Chief does not forget it. The seed comes up to see its
father. It still belongs to him. When he gives that seed to the people
it is for their use. Every one has a right to take it and use it, and it
is no crime. But if he takes it away from the Chief, he destroys what
belongs to him, and he then does a wrong which must be punished."
"This may not be very clear to you," said John, "but it means that
whoever takes it away and destroys it wilfully, is guilty of a crime.
Whatever the Great Chief gives willingly, like the fruits of the earth,
is intended for all alike, and men should not be called criminals for
taking what they need, if they do not wilfully destroy it."
"That is a wonderful idea, when I come to think of it," remarked George.
"And to think that a savage could work that out in his mind."
"But there is one thing that looks a little queer to me. He said he did
not know or believe in a Great Spirit, and yet he talks of the sun as a
Great Spirit," remarked Harry.
"I will put the question to him," said John. "You said that you did not
believe in a Great Spirit, but now you speak about the sun as a Great
Chief. Do you not believe in him?"
"No; I only know that he is there; I do not believe in him any more than
in the carago (moon)."
A great noise was heard outside; the Chief looked up, as an attendant
entered. He spoke to Uraso, and the latter turned to John and said:
"Our ship is coming."
This announcement broke up the interview. It was exciting and
interesting from first to last, and when they emerged from the dwelling
the host and visitors were friends that the future never could sever. It
gave a new inspiration to the boys, and it showed them that even a low
state of man was capable of expressing things that were worthy of
consideration.
The entire village went to the seashore. The inhabitants wondered at the
great vessel, and were impressed at the manner in which it was handled.
"I am anxious to see the man who can row such a vessel," said the Chief.
"He is one of the men from our island," answered Muro.
This seemed to be an astonishing thing to him. He had seen vessels
before, but in the distance. At long intervals parts of ships had come
ashore; but this was the first time that a vessel had ever landed,
within his recollection.
As it drew near he marveled at its size. He could see the man at the
bow-sprit who was constantly throwing something attached to a line
overboard, and then drawing it in again.
He questioned the reason for such a strange action, and was told that
the man was trying the depth of the water, so that they might not come
too close to the shore, and strike the bottom. Then some of the sailors
dropped something overboard, with a great splash, and a huge sail fell
down like magic, and the ship still moved toward the shore and turned
around.
The Chief was inquisitive concerning every action. Why did the ship act
like a human and turn around? He could hardly believe the statement when
told that the anchor was a giant claw, and that when it reached the
bottom it took hold and had sufficient strength to stop the ship and
make it swing around, as he had witnessed.
A boat was lowered, and the last one to descend was Sutoto. Uraso
pointed out his figure, and the Chief kept his eyes on him. The first
man to leave the boat was Sutoto, and both boys rushed down to meet him.
It was the course they always pursued, to be in the lead to welcome
anyone.
They led him to the Chief, and he put his great arms about Sutoto, to
the latter's great embarrassment. But what affected Sutoto more than
anything else, were the eyes of the Chief's daughter, who had acted so
shyly to George the night before. From that moment Sutoto saw no one
else, and she,--well, Harry and George laughed, and slyly caressed
Sutoto, as they saw her admiring glances.
Sutoto was the handsomest native on Wonder Island. He was the brave and
fleet runner who undertook the mission to pass through the three savage
tribes to carry a message, written on a plaintain leaf by the Professor,
to John and the boys while they were surrounded by the hostiles.
The friendship between him and the boys grew stronger and better from
that day on. The tribute to him was one which the boys enjoyed for his
sake, and because he deserved it.
There was a feast that night, unparalleled in the knowledge of the boys.
It was like going to a new world, and meeting new people. Only one
little thing seemed to mar the joyous occasion for the boys for a time.
When they were returning from the beach, they saw three of the natives,
together with their wives and children, with their hands bound, and in
charge of a half dozen warriors.
George recognized the three as his captors. Then was impressed upon him
the fact that they were about to pay the penalty for stealing his things
and hiding the theft from the Chief. They were to be exiled to the place
where the bad people lived.
George hurriedly told Uraso the story of the theft, and begged him to
intercede with the Chief. Instantly, when he learned that George
requested it, he turned to Uraso, and said: "He may release them."
He rushed up to the now bewildered culprits, in order to sever the
bonds, and then recalling that he had given his knife to the Chief, he
called to Harry, and together they freed the limbs of the captives and
the Chief, with a few words of admonition, dismissed them. The boys
never forgot the grateful looks that came from the men and their wives.
When they had departed Muro said: "Under their law the women and
children of the culprits are criminals also, and so they were doomed to
go together."
It would be a difficult matter to describe the food prepared and eaten
at this banquet. Several varieties of fowl, all wild types, and the wild
boar, as well as the 'possum, provided the meats. Of course taro and
amarylla were the chief vegetables; and of nuts, the well known Brazil
species was found everywhere, and to be seen in all dwellings.
The outer portion of the shell of the Brazil nut formed bowls and cups,
which the boys early learned to utilize. There were bananas, a species
of fig, and loquats.
"What surprises me is that they have no fish, or sea food of any kind,"
observed Harry.
John mused for a while, and then said: "It is likely that the people
here have the same aversion to fish as some natives along the Australian
continent, and in the islands near there."
"What is that?" asked George.
"The natives of New Guinea, for instance, worship snakes, lizards,
sharks and crocodiles, and there is a strict law among them not to
injure anything, of that kind. As a result, they are afraid to eat
anything that approaches the shape of these animals."
"Well, if they worship the snakes they must have some kind of religion,"
ventured Harry.
"Yes; and with them go the witch doctors who practice on the people and
charge fees just the same as the physicians do in our country."
"Do they claim there is a Great Spirit, like some of the people here!"
"No; they have a God called Baigona, who lives in the mountains, and
instead of being a good God, is a bad one; he has the power to speak
without being heard, to strike without being seen, and he loves and
hates, just like human beings. He gives the witch doctor the power to do
anything, without being wrong, and without being liable to punishment."
"Well, that is a pretty convenient God to have," said Harry, as he mused
at the idea.
The peculiar thing about the absence of sea food at the banquet could
not be understood, particularly as the natives on Wonder Island were
great fish eaters, and were also the bitter enemies of snakes.
"We must consult the Chief about that," said John.
At the first opportunity the subject was brought up, and it was
discovered that the people were afraid to eat anything that came from
the sea. And then another thing was learned. There were no rivers of any
consequence on the island; only a few streams, that were dry most of the
year.
"I can understand," said John, "that in such a case you do not have
fresh water fish."
The Chief was, in many respects, a remarkable character. Most natives
are extremely superstitious, and it is particularly true of those who
have a belief in some form of God. While he would marvel at new things
they did not occur to him as being the result of some new occult force.
In this respect he differed from the natives of Wonder Island, all of
whom believed, more or less, in the tales of the Medicine Men, and of
the witch doctors. Old Suros, of the Berees tribe, was the only one who
did not believe in the existence of a being who could rule him.
But the Chief had other qualities which were remarkable in a savage, if
such he was. He governed according to some law, and yet he did not know
what law was. The only thing in that community was the will of that one
man.
If he said something, in adjusting any matter, it was always remembered
by the people, and that ruling became a guide for them in the future.
Take, for instance, the theft of the articles from George. The three who
participated in it, knew that it was not wrong, according to the light
they had, to take it from George.
Indeed, the Chief had distinctly said that they could not steal from
each other, but only from him, hence the theft of the articles which
George owned was not a crime. On what ground, then, were they guilty?
George thought he had solved the problem, when discussing the matter
with John. "The Chief found them guilty of trying to hide what they had
done, and they were caught at it."
"But the Chief was not covetous. He admitted he did not care for the
things, and one of the men told Muro that the Chief never took things
from his people without paying for them."
"Well, then, he punished them for trying to deceive him."
"There, that is one of the crimes which the Chief referred to. I think
he is a wonderful character, and I hope we shall be able to unite him
with us."