night, and followed
me into the land of dreams, from which I was rudely awakened early
the next morning by clouds of small sandflies, which my mosquito net
had failed to keep out.

We stayed here the following day, and put in part of our time
dynamiting for fish at the mouth of the river. It was a curious sight
to see the fish blown high into the air as if by a regular geyser. We
got about three hundred; they were of numerous species, and most of
them of good size. Many were most brilliantly coloured, indeed the
fish in these tropical waters are often the most gorgeous objects in
nature, and would greatly surprise those who are only used to the fish
of the temperate zone. During the day the Okeinas returned. They were
followed by several canoes of the Baruga tribe with their chief, who
brought us four live pigs tied to poles, besides other native food,
which, together with the fish, saved us from using the rice for the
police and carriers. New Guinea is not a rice-producing country, and
the natives not being used to it, are far from appreciating it. A
little later some of the Notu tribe from further north arrived by
canoe. They had again been raided by the Dobodura tribe, and many
of them killed and captured. They said the enemy were very strong,
and Monckton told us that it was more than likely that they could
raise one thousand to fifteen hundred fighting men. We determined
to resume our journey the next day, and go inland and attack their
villages. We seemed likely to be in for a good fight, and the police
especially were highly elated. Old Giwi, who bragged so much about
his fighting capabilities at starting, shook his head and thought it
a tall order, and that we were not strong enough to tackle them.

We left again early on the morning of September 20th, the canoes
with our carriers having gone on the previous night. Early in the
afternoon we passed large villages situated amid groves of coconut
palms. These belonged to the Notus, who had been suffering such severe
depredations at the hands of the Doboduras. Shortly before arriving
at our destination we found the carriers waiting for us on shore, they
having too much fear of the Notus to reach their villages before us.

We determined to land on the far side of one particularly large
village. Rifles were handed around, and we strapped on our revolvers,
and all got ready in case of treachery. Then came a scene of excitement
as we landed in the breakers. Directly