CHAPTER V
Some queer dishes--Water wizards--A mysterious deputation--I protestagainst cannibalism--My marriage ceremony--A startling proposition--Dailyroutine--A diet of worms--I proceed cautiously--The cannibal poet sellshis wares--Fishing extraordinary--How emus were caught--Eternal fires--Acoming horror--The first cannibal feast.
I saw very little of Gunda from the moment of landing. I feel sure thatthe fact of his having seen so much of the world, and travelled such along distance--to say nothing about bringing back so wonderful a creatureas myself--had rendered him a very great man indeed in the estimation ofhis friends; and in consequence of this so much honour was paid him thathe became puffed up with pride, and neglected his faithful wife.
Everywhere I went the natives were absolutely overwhelming in theirhospitality, and presents of food of all kinds were fairly showered uponme, including such delicacies as kangaroo and opossum meat, rats, snakes,tree-worms, fish, &c., which were always left outside my hut. Bakedsnake, I ought to mention, was a very pleasant dish indeed, but as therewas no salt forthcoming, and the flesh was very tasteless, I cannot say Ienjoyed this particular native dainty. The snakes were invariably bakedwhole in their skins, and the meat was very tender and juicy, though alittle insipid as to flavour. The native method of cooking is to scoopout a hole in the sand with the hands, and then place the article to becooked at the bottom. Some loose stones would then be thrown over the"joint." Next would come a layer of sand, and the fire was built on thetop of all. Rats were always plentiful--often so much so as to become aserious nuisance. They were of the large brown variety, and were not atall bad eating. I may say here that the women-folk were responsible forthe catching of the rats, the method usually adopted being to poke intheir holes with sticks, and then kill them as they rushed out. Thewomen, by the way, were responsible for a good many things. They weretheir masters' dressers, so to speak, in that they were required to carrysupplies of the greasy clay or earth with which the blacks anoint theirbodies to ward off the sun's rays and insect bites; and beside this, woebetide the wives if _corroboree_ time found them without an ample supplyof coloured pigments for the decoration of their masters' bodies. One ofthe principal duties of the women-folk, however, was the provision ofroots for the family's dinner. The most important among thesenecessaries--besides fine yams--were the root and bud of a kind of water-lily, which when roasted tasted not unlike a sweet potato.
There was usually a good water supply in the neighbourhood of thesecamps, and if it failed (as it very frequently did), the whole tribesimply moved its quarters elsewhere--perhaps a hundred miles off.
The instinct of these people for finding water, however, was nothingshort of miraculous. No one would think of going down to the seashore tolook for fresh water, yet they often showed me the purest and mostrefreshing of liquids oozing up out of the sand on the beach after thetide had receded.
All this time, and for many months afterwards, my boat and everything itcontained were saved from molestation and theft by a curious device onthe part of Yamba. She simply placed a couple of crossed sticks on thesand near the bows, this being evidently a kind of Masonic sign to allbeholders that they were to respect the property of the stranger amongthem; and I verily believe that the boat and its contents might haveremained there until they fell to pieces before any one of those cannibalblacks would have dreamed of touching anything that belonged to me.
After a time the natives began pointedly to suggest that I should staywith them. They had probably heard from Yamba about the strange things Ipossessed, and the occult powers I was supposed to be gifted with. A dayor two after my landing, a curious thing happened--nothing more or lessthan the celebration of my marriage! I was standing near my boat, stillfull of thoughts of escape, when two magnificent naked chiefs, deckedwith gaudy pigments and feather head-dresses, advanced towards me,leading between them a young, dusky maiden of comparatively pleasingappearance.
The three were followed by an immense crowd of natives, and were within afew feet of me, when they halted suddenly. One of the chiefs thenstepped out and offered me a murderous-looking club, with a big knob atone end, which ugly weapon was known as a "waddy." As he presented thisclub the chief made signs that I was to knock the maiden on the head withit. Now, on this I confess I was struck with horror and dismay at myposition, for, instantly recalling what Yamba had told me, I concluded_that a cannibal feast was about to be given in my honour_, andthat--worst horror of all--I might have to lead off with the firstmouthful of that smiling girl. Of course, I reflected they had broughtthe helpless victim to me, the distinguished stranger, to kill with myown hands. At that critical moment, however, I resolved to be absolutelyfirm, even if it cost me my life.
While I hesitated, the chief remained absolutely motionless, holding outthe murderous-looking club, and looking at me interrogatively, as thoughunable to understand why I did not avail myself of his offer. Still moreextraordinary, the crowd behind observed a solemn and disconcertingsilence. I looked at the girl; to my amazement she appeared delightedwith things generally--a poor, merry little creature, not more thanfifteen or sixteen years of age. I decided to harangue the chiefs, andas a preliminary I gave them the universal sign to sit down and parley.They did so, but did not seem pleased at what they doubtless consideredan unlooked-for hitch in an interesting ceremony.
Then in hesitating signs, slaps, clicks, and guttural utterances, I gavethem to understand that it was against my faith to have anything whateverto do with the horrid orgy they contemplated. The Great Spirit theydreaded so much yet so vaguely, I went on to say, had revealed to me thatit was wrong to kill any one in cold blood, and still more loathsome andhorrible to eat the flesh of a murdered fellow-creature. I was very muchin earnest, and I waited with nervous trepidation to see the effect of myperoration. Under the circumstances, you may judge of my astonishmentwhen not only the chiefs, but the whole "nation" assembled, suddenlyburst into roars of eerie laughter.
Then came Yamba to the rescue. Ah! noble and devoted creature! The baremention of her name stirs every fibre of my being with love and wonder.Greater love than hers no creature ever knew, and not once but a thousandtimes did she save my wretched life at the risk of her own.
Well, Yamba, I say, came up and whispered to me. She had been studyingmy face quietly and eagerly, and had gradually come to see what waspassing in my mind. She whispered that the chiefs, far from desiring meto kill the girl for a cannibal feast, were _offering her to me as awife_, and that I was merely expected to tap her on the head with thestick, in token of her subjection to her new spouse! In short, this blowon the head was the legal marriage ceremony _tout simple_. I maintainedmy dignity as far as possible, and proceeded to carry out my part of thecurious ceremony.
I tapped the bright-eyed girl on the head, and she immediately fellprostrate at my feet, in token of her wifely submission. I then raisedher up gently, and all the people came dancing round us, uttering weirdcries of satisfaction and delight. Oddly enough, Yamba, far frommanifesting any jealousy, seemed to take as much interest as any one inthe proceedings, and after everything was over she led my new wife awayto the little "humpy," or hut, that had been built for me by the women.That night an indescribably weird _corroboree_ was held in my honour, andI thought it advisable, since so much was being made of me, to remainthere all night and acknowledge the impromptu songs that were composedand sung in my honour by the native bards. I am afraid I felt utterlylost without Yamba, who was, in the most literal sense, my right hand.
By this time she could speak a little English, and was so marvellouslyintelligent that she seemed to discover things by sheer intuition orinstinct. I think she never let a day go by without favourablyimpressing the chiefs concerning me, my prowess and my powers; andwithout her help I simply could not have lived through the long and wearyyears, nor should I ever have returned to civilisation.
The very next day after my "marriage," having been still furtherenlightened as
to the manners and customs of the natives, I waited uponGunda, and calmly made to him the proposition that we should exchangewives. This suggestion he received with a kind of subdued satisfaction,or holy joy, and very few further negotiations were needed to make thetransaction complete; and, be it said, it was an every-day transaction,perfectly legal and recognised by all the clans. Yamba was full ofvigour and resource, while the only phrase that fitly describes her bushlore is absolutely miraculous. This will be evinced in a hundredextraordinary instances in this narrative.
But you may be asking, What of my dog, Bruno? Well, I am thankful tosay, he was still with me, but it took him a long time to accustomhimself to his new surroundings; he particularly objected to associatingwith the miserable pariah curs that prowled about the encampment. Theywould take sly bites out of him when he was not looking, but on thewhole, he was well able to hold his own, being much more powerful thanthey.
I settled down to my new life in the course of a few days, but I needhardly remark I did not propose staying in that forlorn spot longer thanI could help. This was my plan. I would, first of all, make myselfacquainted with the habits and customs of the blacks, and pick up as muchbushmanship and knowledge of the country as it was possible to acquire,in case I should have to travel inland in search of civilisation insteadof oversea. I knew that it would be folly on my part to attempt to leavethose hospitable regions without knowing more of the geography of thecountry and its people. There was always, however, the hope that someday I might be able either to get away by sea in my boat, or else hailsome passing vessel. The blacks told me they had seen many pass at adistance.
Every morning I was astir by sunrise, and--hope springing eternal--atonce searched for the faintest indication of a passing sail. Next Iwould bathe in a lagoon protected from sharks, drying myself by a run onthe beach. Meanwhile Yamba would have gone out searching for roots forbreakfast, and she seldom returned without a supply of my favourite water-lily buds already mentioned. Often, in the years that followed, did thatheroic creature _tramp on foot a hundred miles_ to get me a few sprigs ofsaline herbs. She had heard me say I wanted salt, which commodity,strange to say, was never used by the natives; and even when I gave themsome as an experiment they did not seem to care about it. She would alsobring in, by way of seasoning, a kind of small onion, known as the_nelga_, which, when roasted, made a very acceptable addition to ourlimited fare. The natives themselves had but two meals a day--breakfast,between eight and nine o'clock, and then an enormous feast in the lateafternoon. Their ordinary food consisted of kangaroo, emu, snakes, rats,and fish; an especial dainty being a worm found in the black ava tree, orin any decaying trunk.
These worms were generally grilled on hot stones, and eaten several at atime like small whitebait. I often ate them myself, and found them mostpalatable. After breakfast the women of the tribe would go out huntingroots and snaring small game for the afternoon meal, while the men wentoff on their war and hunting expeditions, or amused themselves with featsof arms. The children were generally left to their own devices in thecamp, and the principal amusement of the boys appeared to be the hurlingof reed spears at one another. The women brought home the roots (whichthey dug up with yam sticks, generally about four feet long) in nets madeout of the stringy parts of the grass tree; stringy bark, or strongpliable reeds, slung on their all-enduring backs. They generallyreturned heavily laden between two and three in the afternoon. I alwaysknew the time pretty accurately by the sun, but I lost count of the days.The months, however, I always reckoned by the moon, and for each year Imade a notch on the inside of my bow.
My own food was usually wrapped in palm leaves before being placed in thesand oven. Of course the leaves always burned, but they kept the meatfree from sand; and my indefatigable wife was always exercising heringenuity to provide me with fresh dainties. In addition to the ordinaryfare of the natives, I frequently had wild ducks and turkeys, and--whatwas perhaps the greatest luxury of all--eggs, which the natives sent forspecially on my account to distant parts of the surrounding country, andalso to the islands of the coast where white cockatoos reared their youngin rocky cliffs.
At the time of my shipwreck I had little or no knowledge of Australiangeography, so that I was utterly at a loss as to my position. Iafterwards learnt, however, that Yamba's home was on Cambridge Gulf, onthe NNW. coast of the Australian continent, and that the central point ofour camping ground at this time was near the mouth of the Victoria River,which flows into Queen's Channel.
Almost every evening the blacks would hold a stately _corroboree_,singing and chanting; the burden of their song being almost invariablymyself, my belongings, and my prowess--which latter, I fear, wasmagnified in the most extravagant manner. Besides the _corroboree_ theyalso would assemble for what might not inaptly be termed evening prayers,which consisted of a poetical recital of the events of the day. I oughtto mention that at first I did not accompany the men on their excursionsabroad, because I was far from perfect in their language; andfurthermore, I was not skilled in hunting or in bush lore. Therefore,fearful of exciting ridicule, I decided to remain behind in the campuntil I was thoroughly grounded in everything there was to be learned.Supposing, for example, I had gone out with the blacks, and had toconfess myself tired after tramping several miles. Well, this kind ofthing would certainly have engendered contempt; and once the mysteriouswhite stranger was found to be full of the frailties of the ordinary man,his prestige would be gone, and then life would probably becomeintolerable.
Thus everything I did I had to excel in, and it was absolutely necessarythat I should be perpetually "astonishing the natives," in the mostliteral sense of the phrase. Accordingly, for the next few weeks, I usedto accompany the women on their root-hunting and rat-catchingexpeditions, and from them I picked up much valuable information.
The _corroboree_ was, perhaps, the greatest institution known to theblacks, who, obliged to do no real work, as we understand it, simply hadto pass the time somehow; and there can be no doubt that, were it not forthe constant feuds and consequent incessant wars, the race would greatlydeteriorate. The _corroboree_ after a successful battle commenced with acannibal feast off the bodies of fallen foes, and it would be kept up forseveral days on end, the braves lying down to sleep near the fire towardsmorning, and renewing the festivities about noon next day. The chiefs onthese occasions decked themselves with gorgeous cockatoo feathers, andpainted their bodies with red and yellow ochre and other glaringpigments, each tribe having its own distinguishing marks. A couple ofhours were generally spent in dressing and preparing for the ceremony,and then the gaily-decorated fighting-men would dance or squat round thefires and chant monotonous songs, telling of all their own achievementsand valour, and the extraordinary sights they had seen in their travels.
The words of the songs were usually composed by the clan's own poet, whomade a living solely by his profession, and even sold his effusions toother tribes. As there was no written language the purchaser wouldsimply be coached orally by the vendor poet; and as the blacks weregifted with most marvellous memories, they would transmit and resell thesongs throughout vast stretches of country. These men of the north-westwere of magnificent stature, and possessed great personal strength. Theywere able to walk extraordinary distances, and their carriage was themost graceful I have ever seen. Many of them were over six feet high,well made in proportion and with high broad foreheads--altogether a verydifferent race from the inhabitants of Central Australia. One of theirfavourite tests of strength was to take a short stick of very hard woodand bend it in their hands, using the thumbs as levers, till it snapped.Strange to say, I failed to bend the stick more than a quarter of aninch. The women are not very prepossessing, and not nearly so gracefulin their bearing and gait as the men. Poor creatures! they did all thehard work of the camp-building, food-hunting, waiting, and serving.Occasionally, however, the men did condescend to go out fishing, and theywould also organise _battues_ when a big supply of food was wanted.
Thesegreat hunting-parties, by the way, were arranged on an immense scale, andfire figured largely in them. The usual routine was to set fire to thebush, and then as the terrified animals and reptiles rushed out inthousands into the open, each party of blacks speared every living thingthat came its way within a certain sphere. The roar of thefast-spreading fire, the thousands of kangaroos, opossums, rats, snakes,iguanas, and birds that dashed hither and thither, to the accompanimentof bewildering shouts from the men and shrill screeches from the women,who occasionally assisted, flitting hither and thither like eerie witchesamidst the dense pall of black smoke--all these made up a picture whichis indelibly imprinted on my mind.
As a rule, hosts of hawks and eagles are to be seen flying over the blackman's camp, but on the occasion of a bush fire they follow its train,well knowing that they will obtain prey in abundance. With regard to thefishing parties, these went out either early in the morning, soon aftersunrise, or in the evening, when it was quite dark. On the latteroccasions, the men carried big torches, which they held high in the airwith one hand, while they waded out into the water with their spearspoised, in readiness to impale the first big fish they came across.
When the spearmen _did_ strike, their aim was unerring, and thestruggling fish would be hurled on to the beach to the patientwomen-folk, who were there waiting for them, with their big nets of grassslung over their backs. Sometimes a hundred men would be in the shallowwater at once, all carrying blazing torches, and the effect as thefishermen plunged and splashed this way and that, with shouts of triumphor disappointment, may be better imagined than described. In the daytimea rather different method was adopted. Some acres of the shallow lagoonwould be staked out at low water in the shape of an inverted V, anopening being left for the fish to pass through.
The high tide brought the fish in vast shoals, and then the opening wouldbe closed. When the tide receded, the staked enclosure became, ineffect, a gigantic net, filled with floundering fish, big and little. Thenatives then waded into the inclosure, and leisurely despatched the fishwith their spears.
Nothing was more interesting than to watch one of these children of thebush stalking a kangaroo. The man made not the slightest noise inwalking, and he would stealthily follow the kangaroo's track for miles(the tracks were absolutely invisible to the uninitiated). Should atlength the kangaroo sniff a tainted wind, or be startled by an incautiousmovement, his pursuer would suddenly become as rigid as a bronze figure,and he could remain in this position for hours. Finally, when withinthirty or forty yards of the animal, he launched his spear, and in allthe years I was among these people I never knew a man to miss his aim.Two distinct kinds of spears were used by the natives, one for huntingand the other for war purposes. The former averaged from eight to tenfeet, whilst the latter varied from ten to fourteen feet in length; theblade in each case, however, consisting either of bone or stone, with ashaft of some light hard wood. Metals were, of course, perfectly unknownas workable materials. The war-spear was not hurled javelin-fashion likethe hunting-spear, but propelled by means of a wommerah, which, inreality, was a kind of sling, perhaps twenty-four inches long, with ahook at one end to fix on the shaft of the spear. In camp the men mainlyoccupied their time in making spears and mending their weapons. Theyhacked a tree down and split it into long sections by means of wedges, inorder to get suitable wood for their spear-shafts.
To catch emus the hunters would construct little shelters of grass at aspot overlooking the water-hole frequented by these birds, and they werethen speared as they came down for water. The largest emu I ever saw, bythe way, was more than six feet high, whilst the biggest kangaroo I cameacross was even taller than this. Snakes were always killed with sticks,whilst birds were brought down with the wonderful boomerang.
As a rule, only sufficient food was obtained to last from day to day; buton the occasion of one of the big _battues_ I have described there wouldbe food in abundance for a week or more, when there would be a horridorgy of gorging and one long continuous _corroboree_, until supplies gaveout.
The sport which I myself took up was dugong hunting; for I ought to havementioned that I brought a harpoon with me in the boat, and this mostuseful article attracted as much attention as anything I had. Thenatives would occasionally put their hands on my tomahawk or harpoon, andnever ceased to wonder why the metal was so cold.
Whenever I went out after dugong, accompanied by Yamba (she was ever withme), the blacks invariably came down in crowds to watch the operationfrom the beach.
But, you will ask, what did I want with dugong, when I had so much otherfood at hand? Well my idea was to lay in a great store of driedprovisions against the time when I should be ready to start forcivilisation in my boat. I built a special shed of boughs, in which Iconducted my curing operations; my own living-place being only a fewyards away. It was built quite in European fashion, with a sloping roof.The interior was perhaps twenty feet square and ten feet high, with asmall porch in which my fire was kept constantly burning. When we hadcaptured a dugong the blacks would come rushing into the sea to meet usand drag our craft ashore, delighted at the prospect of a great feast.The only part of the dugong I preserved was the belly, which I cut upinto strips and dried.
The blacks never allowed their fires to go out, and whenever they movedtheir camping-ground, the women-folk always took with them theirsmouldering fire-sticks, with which they can kindle a blaze in a fewminutes. Very rarely, indeed, did the women allow their fire-sticks togo out altogether, for this would entail a cruel and severe punishment. Afire-stick would keep alight in a smouldering state for days. All thatthe women did when they wanted to make it glow was to whirl it round inthe air. The wives bore ill-usage with the most extraordinaryequanimity, and never attempted to parry even the most savage blow. Theywould remain meek and motionless under a shower of brutal blows from athick stick, and would then walk quietly away and treat their bleedingwounds with a kind of earth. No matter how cruelly the women might betreated by their husbands, they hated sympathy, so their women friendsalways left them alone. It often surprised me how quickly the blacks'most terrible wounds healed; and yet they were only treated with a kindof clay and leaves of the wild rose.
I am here reminded of the native doctor. This functionary was called a_rui_, and he effected most of his cures with a little shell, with whichhe rubbed assiduously upon the affected part. Thus it will be seen thatthe medical treatment was a form of massage, the rubbing being done firstin a downward direction and then crosswise. I must say, however, thatthe blacks were very rarely troubled with illness, their most frequentdisorder being usually the result of excessive gorging when aparticularly ample supply of food was forthcoming--say, after a big_battue_ over a tribal preserve.
In an ordinary case of overfeeding, the medicine man would rub hispatient's stomach with such vigour as often to draw blood. He would alsogive the sufferer a kind of grass to eat, and this herb, besides clearingthe system, also acted as a most marvellous appetiser. The capacity ofsome of my blacks was almost beyond belief. One giant I have in my mindate a whole kangaroo by himself. I saw him do it. Certainly it was notan excessively big animal, but, still, it was a meal large enough forthree or four stalwart men.
In a case of fever the natives resorted to charms to drive away the evilspirit that was supposed to be troubling the patient. The universalsuperstition about all maladies is that they are caused by the "evileye," directed against the sufferer by some enemy. Should one member ofa tribe be stricken down with a disease, his friends at once come to theconclusion that he has been "pointed at" by a member of another tribe whoowed him a grudge; he has, in short, been bewitched, and an expedition ispromptly organised to seek out and punish the individual in question andall his tribe. From this it is obvious that war is of pretty frequentoccurrence. And not only so, but every death is likewise the signal fora tribal war. There is no verdict of "Death from natural causes."Punitive expeditions are not organised in the event of slight fe
vers oreven serious illness--only when the patient dies. A tribe I once cameacross some miles inland were visited by a plague of what I now feel suremust have been smallpox. The disease, they said, had been brought downfrom the coast, and although numbers of the blacks died, war was notdeclared against any particular tribe. As a rule, the body of the deadbrave is placed upon a platform erected in the forks of trees, and hisweapons neatly arranged below. Then, as decay set in, and the body beganto crumble away, the friends and chiefs would come and observe certainmystic signs, which were supposed to give information as to what tribe orindividual had caused the death of the deceased.
It must have been within a month of my landing on Yamba's country, inCambridge Gulf, that I witnessed my first cannibal feast. One of thefighting-men had died in our camp, and after the usual observations hadbeen taken, it was decided that he had been pointed at, and his deathbrought about, by a member of another tribe living some distance away. Anexpedition of some hundreds of warriors was at once fitted out. Theenemy was apparently only too ready for the fray, because the armiespromptly met in an open plain, and I had an opportunity of witnessing theextraordinary method by which the Australian blacks wage war. One of themost redoubtable of our chiefs stepped forward, and explained the reasonof his people's visit in comparatively calm tones. An opposing chiefreplied to him, and gradually a heated altercation arose, the abuserising on a crescendo scale for ten or fifteen minutes. These two thenretired, and another couple of champion abusers stepped forward to"discuss" the matter. This kind of thing went on for a considerabletime, the abuse being of the most appalling description, and directedmainly against the organs of the enemy's body (heart, liver, &c.), hisancestors, "his ox, his ass, and everything that was his." At length,when every conceivable thing had been said that it was possible to say,the warriors drew near, and at last some one threw a spear. This, ofcourse, was the signal for real action, and in a few minutes theengagement became general. There was no strategy or tactics of any kind,every man fighting single-handed.
But to return to the battle I was describing. After a very few minutes'fighting the enemy were utterly routed, and promptly turned tail and fledfrom the scene of the encounter, leaving behind them--after all theuproar and the flood of vilification--only three of their warriors, andthese not dead, but only more or less badly wounded. Quarter beingneither given nor expected in these battles, the three prostrate blackswere promptly despatched by the leader of my tribe, the _coup de grace_being given with a waddy, or knobbed stick. The three bodies were thenplaced on litters made out of spears and grass, and in due time carriedinto our own camp.
There were so many unmistakable signs to presage what was coming that I_knew_ a cannibal feast was about to take place. But for obvious reasonsI did not protest against it, nor did I take any notice whatever. Thewomen (who do all the real work) fell on their knees, and with theirfingers scraped three long trenches in the sand, each about seven feetlong and three deep. Into each of these ovens was placed one of thebodies of the fallen warriors, and then the trench was filled up--firstlywith stones, and then with sand. On top of all a huge fire was built,and maintained with great fierceness for about two hours. There wasgreat rejoicing during this period of cooking, and apparently muchpleasurable anticipation among the triumphant blacks. In due time thesignal was given, and the ovens laid open once more. I looked in and sawthat the bodies were very much burnt. The skin was cracked in places andliquid fat was issuing forth. . . . But, perhaps, the less said aboutthis horrible spectacle the better. With a yell, several warriors leapedinto each trench and stuck spears through the big "joints." And themoment the roasted carcasses were taken out of the trenches the wholetribe literally fell upon them and tore them limb from limb. I sawmothers with a leg or an arm surrounded by plaintive children, who werecrying for their portion of the fearsome dainty.
Others, who were considered to have taken more than their share, werelikewise fallen upon and their "joint" subdivided and hacked to pieceswith knives made from shells. The bodies were not cooked all through, sothat the condition of some of the revellers, both during and after theorgy, may best be left to the imagination. A more appalling, moreghastly, or more truly sickening spectacle it is impossible for the mindof man to conceive. A great _corroboree_ was held after the feast, but,with my gorge rising and my brain reeling, I crept to my own humpy andtried to shut out from my mind the shocking inferno I had just beencompelled to witness.
But let us leave so fearful a subject and consider something moreinteresting and amusing.