The Cruise of the Kawa | Page 8

the ground.
The effect on the Filbertines was marvelous.
They were too simple to be afraid. Their one emotion was wonder.
Then Swank, grinning broadly, uttered the one word, "Cinch!"
To a nation which had never heard a word ending in a consonant, this
was apparently intensely humorous. They burst into loud guffaws,
supplemented with resounding slaps of their cupped hands on their
stomachs, at the same time raising an imitative cry of "Sink-ka!
Sink-ka!"
This was our welcome to the Filbert Islands, and also the beginning of
the formation of that new tongue, Filbertese or nut-talk, which in the
ensuing months was to mean so much to our small but absolutely
intrepid band.
CHAPTER III
Our handsome hosts. En route to the interior. Native flora and fauna.
We arrive at the capitol. A lecture on Filbertine architecture. A strange
taboo. The serenade.
With the first burst of laughter it seemed that all embarrassment on the
part of the natives had been dissipated. Those nearest us insisted on
patting our stomachs gently, at the same time uttering a soft, crooning
"soo-soo," [Footnote: This same sound is used by the natives of Sugar
Hill, New Hampshire, when calming their horses.] which it was
obviously the proper thing to return, which we did to the delight of the
bronze warriors about us.
After a few moments of this friendly massage, the most ornamental of

the savages, whom I judged to be the chief, uttered dissyllabic
command of "Oo-a," and slapped his right thigh smartly with his left
hand, a feat more easily described than accomplished. Coincident with
this signal came a cheerful riffling sound as the Filbertines broke out
their large umbrellas of panjandrus leaves which we had first mistaken
for weapons. This implement, (known technically as a naa-naa or taa-
taa, depending on whether it was open or closed), was in reality not
only a useful and necessary protection against the continuous nut-
showers but also a weapon of both of- and de-fensive warfare.
[Footnote: This primitive people we soon found to be profoundly
pacifistic, a natural condition in a race who, since the dawn of time, had
known no influence other than that of the Pacific Ocean. Warfare with
its cruel attributes had never penetrated their isolation. With nations as
with people, it takes two to make a quarrel. Here was but one.]
We stood thus, in open formation, among the luxurious haro until in
response to another signal from the chief, a resounding slap on the left
shank, they escorted us ceremoniously along a winding path which led
toward the interior of the island. It was for all the world as if we were
being taken out to dinner, a thought which suggested for an instant the
reflection that we might turn out to be not guests but courses at the
banquet, in which case I promised myself I should be a
piece-de-resistance of the most violent character.
But these solemn thoughts were not proof against the gaiety of our
surroundings, the soft patter of the constantly dropping nuts bounding
from the protective taa-taas, and the squawks and screeches of
countless cuttywinks and fatu-liva birds, those queens of the tropics
whose gorgeous plumage swept across our path.
For Whinney and Swank as well as myself the promenade was a
memorable one, the former feasting his cool eyes on the hundreds of
new scientific items which he was later to classify, the bulbous oo-pa, a
sort of vegetable cream-puff, the succulent tuki-taki, pale-green with
red dots, a natural cross between the banana and the cocoanut, having
the taste of neither, and the numerous crawling things, the
whistling-ants and shy, lamp-eyed lily-bugs (anchoridae flamens) who

flashed their signals as we passed.
Swank revelled in the rainbow colors about us, the flaming nabiscus
blossoms and the unearthly saffron of the alova blooms, one inhale of
which, we were to learn, contained the kick of three old-fashioned
mint-juleps. Only Triplett's hard-boiled countenance reflected no
interest whatever in his surroundings.
It was doubtless this unintelligent dignity on our Captain's part, coupled
with what was left of his brass buttons and visor cap on which the
legend "Kawa" still glimmered faintly, which prompted the aborigines
to select him as our chief, an error which I at first thought of correcting
by some sort of dramatic tableau such as having Triplett lie down and
letting me place my foot on his Adam's apple, of which he had a
splendid specimen. On second thought, however, I decided that it
would be more modest to allow him any honors he might receive
together with the responsibilities attendant upon his position. It is the
invariable habit of South Sea Islanders, in the event of trouble, to
capture and hold as hostages the chief men of a tribe. Their heads, with
or