She knew that the natives looked
upon her with the same horrified aversion as they looked upon
Strickland, and she kept out of their way. Once some women,
venturing nearer than usual to the plantation, saw her
washing clothes in the brook, and they threw stones at her.
After that the trader was told to give her the message that if
she used the brook again men would come and burn down her house."
"Brutes," I said.
"
, men are always the same.
Fear makes them cruel.... I decided to see Strickland, and
when I had finished with the chiefess asked for a boy to show
me the way. But none would accompany me, and I was forced to
find it alone."
When Dr. Coutras arrived at the plantation he was seized with
a feeling of uneasiness. Though he was hot from walking, he
shivered. There was something hostile in the air which made
him hesitate, and he felt that invisible forces barred his way.
Unseen hands seemed to draw him back. No one would go
near now to gather the cocoa-nuts, and they lay rotting on the
ground. Everywhere was desolation. The bush was encroaching,
and it looked as though very soon the primeval forest would
regain possession of that strip of land which had been
snatched from it at the cost of so much labour.
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