barracks. Then he mounted his man-horse and made the last round of the
day.

In the hospital were two new cases. To these he gave castor-oil. He
congratulated himself. It had been an easy day. Only three had died. He
inspected the copra-drying that had been going on, and went through the
barracks to see if there were any sick lying hidden and defying his rule
of segregation. Returned to the house, he received the reports of the
boss-boys and gave instructions for next day's work. The boat's crew
boss also he had in, to give assurance, as was the custom nightly, that
the whale-boats were hauled up and padlocked. This was a most necessary
precaution, for the blacks were in a funk, and a whale-boat left lying on
the beach in the evening meant a loss of twenty blacks by morning. Since
the blacks were worth thirty dollars apiece, or less, according to how
much of their time had been worked out, Berande plantation could ill
afford the loss. Besides, whale-boats were not cheap in the Solomons;
and, also, the deaths were daily reducing the working capital. Seven
blacks had fled into the bush the week before, and four had dragged
themselves back, helpless from fever, with the report that two more had
been killed and _kai-kai'd_ {1} by the hospitable bushmen. The seventh
man was still at large, and was said to be working along the coast on the
lookout to steal a canoe and get away to his own island.

Viaburi brought two lighted lanterns to the white man for inspection. He
glanced at them and saw that they were burning brightly with clear, broad
flames, and nodded his head. One was hoisted up to the gaff of the
flagstaff, and the other was placed on the wide veranda. They were the
leading lights to the Berande anchorage, and every night in the year they
were so inspected and hung out.