rested.

For a matter of fifty yards they ran from us as rapidly as
they could, and then they turned and surveyed us for a
moment. Evidently emboldened by the scarcity of our
numbers, they commenced to advance upon us, brandishing
their spears and shouting horribly.

They were short and muscular of build, with long hair and
beards tangled and matted with filth. Their heads, however,
were shapely, and their eyes, though fierce and warlike,
were intelligent.

Appreciation of these physical attributes came later, of
course, when I had better opportunity to study the men at
close range and under circumstances less fraught with danger
and excitement. At the moment I saw, and with unmixed
wonder, only a score of wild savages charging down upon us,
where I had expected to find a community of civilized and
enlightened people.

Each of us was armed with rifle, revolver, and cutlass, but
as we stood shoulder to shoulder facing the wild men I was
loath to give the command to fire upon them, inflicting
death or suffering upon strangers with whom we had no
quarrel, and so I attempted to restrain them for the moment
that we might parley with them.

To this end I raised my left hand above my head with the
palm toward them as the most natural gesture indicative of