had no effect--they merely yelped and snarled and darted off
into the undergrowth, only to reappear somewhere ahead of us. Finally my
companions became so exasperated that, forgetting they were newly-made
converts to Christianity, they burst out into torrents of abuse,
invoking all the old heathen gods to smite the dogs individually and
collectively, and not let them spoil our sport. This proving of no
effect, an exasperated and stalwart young native named Na, who was the
owner of one of the most ugly and persistent of the animals, asked me to
lend him my Winchester, and, waiting for a favourable chance, shot the
brute dead. In an instant the rest of the pack vanished without a sound,
and we saw no more of them till we returned to the huts in the evening.

These natives (seven in all) were, with the exception of a man of fifty
years of age, all young men, and fine types of the Micronesian. Although
much slighter in build than the average Polynesian of the south-eastern
islands of the Pacific, they were extremely muscular and sinewy, and as
active and fleet of foot as wild goats. Their skins, where not tanned
a darker hue by the sun, were of a light reddish-brown, and the blue
tatooing on their bodies showed out very clearly; most of them had a
very Semitic and regular cast of features, and their straight black hair
and fine white teeth imparted a very pleasing appearance. Unlike some of
the natives of the Micronesian Archipelago on the islands farther to the
westward they dislike the disgusting practice of chewing the betel-nut,
and in general may be regarded as a very cleanly and highly intelligent
race of people. Somewhat suspicious, if not sullen, with the European
stranger on first acquaintance, they do not display that spirit of
hospitality and courtesy that seems to be inherent with the Samoans,
Tahitians and the Marquesans. From the time when their existence was
first made known to the world by the discoveries of the early Spanish
voyagers to the South Seas they have been addicted to warfare, and
the inhabitants of Ponape in particular had an evil reputation for the
horrible cruelties the victors inflicted upon the vanquished in battle,
even though the victims were frequently their own kith and kin. When,
less than twenty years ago, Spain reasserted her claims to the Caroline
Islands (of which Ponape is the largest and most fertile) and placed
garrisons on several of the islands, the natives of Ponape made a savage