Sarah finally decides that enough attaps have been completed for the nonce and with porcine indifference to the plans of others deposits herself with many wheedling grunts directly in front of one of the older women and also upon the attap she is finishing. The woman roars with laughter. She calls the attention of the others to Sarah’s appropriation of the spot and Sarah adds to the conversation several louder grunts, as though demanding attention. The woman slaps Sarah fondly upon her swelling ham and proceeds to perform the operation that the big creature has come to enjoy. Taking a short piece of one of the midribs, she scratches Sarah’s back, which brings from the sow grunts of grateful approval.
Moh has struck a deal with one of the women whereby we are kept supplied with cocoanuts, which formerly were brought to us daily but of late have been coming in decreasing numbers. He gives in return for five cocoanuts one empty tomato can or a canned-corn tin. He has an eye to business and the girl who made eyes at him a few days ago is now his customer. Judging from his very businesslike attitude toward her, he has discovered something unattractive about her. A young and very fearsome Kia Kia spends a great deal of his time in her company.
Our safety razors are a great curiosity to the men, who shave in what to us would be a most unpleasant way. They pluck their beards with tweezers made of brass, of which there are several pairs in the kampong. These are relics of former visits of Malay traders who come to the coast during the calm season. When we shave, there invariably cluster around, to watch the operation, a group of wondering men who shake their heads as though the ways and implements of the white men were beyond their comprehension. Our shoes are a source of amusement to them, for they cannot understand why one should wish to incase the feet in such stiff, unyielding contraptions. Our other clothing they admire greatly, and one of them proudly wears one of our discarded shirts. The typewriter is a continual source of wonder, for they sense the use to which it is put and are awed by it as much as by anything that we possess.
Though it is midday, it suddenly grows dark and we go outside the tent, where just a little while ago the glare was almost blinding. The entire sky is overcast, and we see that we are to taste of a regular tropical storm,—the first, in fact, that we have experienced since landing. The wind is moaning through the palms in rapidly rising key, and the surf not far distant is pounding upon the beach with a menacing roar. As the wind rises the natives scurry around, gathering up their belongings, and the children take to cover with cries of alarm. Even the dogs slink through the little openings in the house fronts that are cut for their especial use and in a surprisingly short space of time the kampong is deserted.
We make a hurried examination of the guy-ropes of our tent and tighten some of those that are loose.
The wind is fast becoming a hurricane and if it were not for the shelter of the surrounding palms the tent would be blown flat in an instant. As it is, however, it stands the tempest pretty well. The rain bursts upon us without warning, obliterating from view the grove behind the tent. The cocoas are thrashing wildly to and fro in a frenzy that makes us wonder how they stand it. The torrential rain floods the kampong, which for a few moments resembles a lake in which the houses are entirely surrounded with water. A terrific peal of thunder follows one of the most vivid of lightning-flashes and above the drumming patter of the rain and the howling of the wind we hear the shrieks of the frightened children in the shack next to us.
The kapala kampong presents us with human skulls, the highest token of their esteem
A young and very fearsome Kia Kia spends a great deal of his time with her