THE CHINA MAIL, SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 1957.
SUNLIT ISLES, CAREFREE PEOPLE, VILLAGE SCANDAL
The day a white man pulled a gun in court
• The islanders called him Kurimbo. He wont among them to rule; he stayed with them as their friend. Then, he distilled the magic of those enchanted shores in stories....stories that seized the imagination of all who read them, half the world away. Today: The strange episode of a silent battle of wills-from Sir Arthur Grimble's last book, RETURN TO THE ISLANDS.
Wiemy telatus, he was fond of mys, you can't intimitate these TUEN my formidable first chief, E. C. Eliol, was teaching me my job as a district people in the mass, so don't ever be fool enough to try. It's their consciences you have to work on when they get sticky; nothing else."
1 dn't make much of his words at the time, but I had occasion to remember them a few years later. I was when a sick and unhappy individual, whom I shall calt Albert, came trailing at to Tarawa from the Southern Gilberts with a tale that the people of Arone Island had tried to murder him.
Albert was a stop-gap in the administrative machine, a ten- porary, provisional, acting dis- friet ficer, True, he spoke a Lit of Gilbertese, but bully was written elf ever him, und bis raullos talk about missionaries
was a byword everywhere.
of our
1ing of our porrows,"
"
Nei
By Sir Arthur Grimble.
Tabita
Was
EL
reat at the
judgment
Nel Tabita stayed only to hurl coconut, then Ced through the palms...
the Book of Laws.
the
sessions by the
Was they
So be A visit from chlet pastor But I was wrong. They came The magistrale gave nothing want to fish for you.'
five o'clock "So the day after," continued named in Yes, Albert was a mistake for a week and three days. And privale letter to me from the then rose The matter of Net the magistrate, "he came to me, And when my council of village but the barest bones of the last said, 'You are no longer free. I Timoni had me up at sunrise. crowding to
This revolver act in his letter. Also, he named am taking you to prison. And I He, of course, knew all the facts children's
mo tu waterside, of Aromno Tubita."
saying! Punish me that insokmi hradnen said.
he sent them no rames, native magistrate
Clearly he wasn't followed him to the calaboose, of the attack and gave jiastor." 1 replied, For what is not the law,
The single snag explained how enormous:
however, and I didn't want any The table of pretty crime in the look of Laws shall ato to prison for contempt of going to be interested in identif- for I thought it was the law." me freely. He named no names,
hit because Timoni, the cations later on. came among us breathing hute
I shut down at that point and from him. You can't make a slayed just as cryptic with me and shouting village gel on whom Albert's punish him
He answered court. reilgion
sald 'Patience! justice was overturned upon me chief pastor, threats against our pastors." it reving eye had fallen: She, aothing, but the next mornin
added, "furthermoTE, I couple of hundred sights the only radical cure for this up to be with them. After 10 , "had that was the begin- instead of submitting with joy he returned, saying. You show Keep the peace, we suffered that and I saw nothing," he put it, deilvered the lot from us. A stooge of a missionary. Besides. about Albert as I had set myself
forceful 1 s
advances one favour to Christians.
Your man for yet another four weeks and
shinee in hud trickled Into the speak trouble was for Albert's attackers days of rothing but smlies and More and mero to give themselves um of their gossip I began to feel foolish. evening mr his house, stayed not it to be a madstrate. And and four days, lifting no hand think that the only
Nevertheless, our this matter was that man. This, house by then,
own accord, and so short-circuit Afler 16 I was sure they were In other words, he bad con- chib to burla fallen coconut the pushed me out of my middle against him,
with the other court Red arrow-swift
the foolish pact to bitter jealousy of the him, then
table of justice, young men began to murmur. I know, is not according to the people came crowding in as I
resist their simply stringing me along. ceived u
11 this is the Jaw, let us quickly law. Therefore I am no longer go on
There were between At to remain in office. There. Touthies, prim Tove 10 the
arrest. nfluence of the London Mission's through the
there make an end of it."
And away my 700 and 800 of them si cast,
then, suddenly, fore, I have locked brown pastors in the Southern dwelling of her unele, a forging me to sit beside him.
"Sitting in The pastor, à blg mon,
That solution seemed beyond were no more smiles or gossip: Islands. "But," the report con- pastor
with
Albert uniform in the Government safe siting with bowed shoulders # revolver 'The end came when enlet came out and shoped Albert off stead of me
on and returned to my vlage, cross-legged on the doormats, "Timoni, the
hope to me, but not to Timoni. I went to the beach one even- the),
refuse today," he ing to find nobody there. Pastor, told us to be patient; so with a broom and epithets of before him, he sent men and entered his seventh week
The quailly or their silence, "They would we miffered his talk in silence Liblical frankness....
women to prison for offences nut Arora. I will reconstruct that Farewell,"
final scene now from the notes
and tense, chouted its sald," "beenuse their consciences was the same next day. The problem is resignation massive
But later.... I took later, on the spot, Ho
Another two or three daya had called a general raceting in had left on ice, for whomever it own warning. They were waft- are still asleep. the speak-house for more talk night concern, was packed into hk for me to start trouble about when you have done your part passed before I noticed those
"The people Albert.
.....inicgs will be different."
nightly rustlings in the bush about the pastors, and a la neat postscript:
hay that that man was struck
Any least reproach, or what- My part, recording to him around my house, I couldn't be down by all of them together,
to awaken ilic general sure what caused them at first, They have swon to resint any ever It might be, of mine was was
cue public conselence for a start. 1
I tried to keep an open mind "That's a grand idea. a roaring "Hands o!" agreed. une who comes seeking to bring simply going to be their
for several nights-until, in fact, ultimatum. Thet grandiose but how do I get them going?" this person or that among them to trial,"
my cook-boy began to complain showdown, nothing else, was
"Do as you have begun," he of ghosts creeping round in the wailing Co
smllcd. "Ask no questions: dark. tensed for.
Onswer no questions; say never a word about that man; never-
RESERVATIONS
crowd of men and women had tax, mp3,
for
But when he tried to address them, a mysterious sound arose; Just a hum-minmmm-mmomm from behind closed lips, un- Obviously something had to be what they were
accable to any particular part done soon. Someone just had to of the audience.
be brought to trial, unless mub
The salvation of Albert
law was to stand condoned felt I had
Arora, This was the bonu I
better go and pick with them down there.
My crrival at.Arorae wasn't a Triumphant affair; no canoes
The stirrings theless, G much among the
began..
people, loughing with them all the line. Do nothing but this at first,"
"But, Timoni, why should being friendly start them think- any ing?
came out to see me eshore; I THE only plan I had in mind was dumped on the beach by the
so far was to avoid
Just the reverse, I'd hnvo
ship's dinghy. Not a soul but such thing. So I hurried nervous thought."
to suit but such thing. So rongorongo-the
which He news-giving with me,
ű
Things were
moving fast
It
HAD promised Timoni to keep away from him until he something to tell me, but I thought it was time for an-
had
:
I
E stopped talking; the hum
His answer track ine as more other talk with him now. their faces. Seated on the floor, beachhead to greet
"They sent him a message by my cook they stared back at him, stuny wasn't there officially, he said, visiting district officer invariably than a bit sententious:
to warn me against ended his first day in court. It have taken
the guilt of those at sunrise, and he came at once. silent. He began again; so did but only
bud to be got over,
come in any the hum. At a third attempt, he staying overnight.
mea upon themselves, and guilt He would have
in the face of case, he said, because Tried to shoul il down; As
"The ship's leaving me here I burst intu a spate of small walks themed
were moving fust, volume grew to the bourdün of a church organ.
for a month," I told him-but talk about the outside world, friendship,"
Ever since I had where are the village headment and for 15 minutes they took it
So then?" "Im. All right.
making friends with Why didn't they, at least, come without a move. Then stirrings
Then the people will begin people had talked with mount- along? Og did they resign in a and sniffings began. They started
throwing blank looks at coch to wonder aloud, saying: 'This ing wonder-just as kunch when you did?"
other. I began to repeat myself, white man is our friend. He predicted-of my strange silence. "They did not resign. That
to laugh loves
and play on about Albert, them to prisen, us, I I went un talking. How the men rent
to you," he replied, feuce was I going to manage a Arorac. Yet he continually hides reported
end by the time a man's voice
I was the sight of him, rear- ing and Jivid in his seat ut tast, that broke up the peaceful game. A couple of youths burst Ho into rapturous laughter, whipped round to his wretched orderly: "Arrest those twol he yelled.
off.
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bring
"That man?
the
ihinga
staried them the
he had
Alarm had soon crept into
Do you
war-
"and they are si in prison," smooth exit? I was at my wits something from us. What is it
int he hides?! And one will their perplexity. Within a fort- I walked past him towards the terrupted But Kurimber" whisper to another, imagining right they were saying I had men leaped up and held him packed for visitors, now so for-
The orderly tried to obey, but island speak-house, usually so the same by which they called ali manner of things, until at something dreadful to tell them We have a lest they will send a deputatlono dreedful that, loving them, mel And then Albert did the fornly empty; "Go and get your stupidest thing of his Hie; he uniform or 1 told him, "then word to say!"
to you, saying: 'Kurimbo, what I could not screw myself up to are you hiding from us? And point of telling it. "And natused his gun from the table
" said Timoni, "for a whole to the prison and bring the "Ah yes...
that man," I you will say 'Nothing, and they week they have been saying, and pointed it at them.
village headmen here, also In said blankly, "yes, yes, of course will
the go away empty, and Maybo we Chil A woman screamed, "Death uniterm.
of speaking He
us death!" That straighten a few things out he that man... well...te's people will wonder kill more, We know the truth!"
In hospital." As I paused, des- until prosently someone will remember loosed vandemonium; they all ween us."
perately wondering what to add, start a whisper: What is about ships?"
The to happen to us?'"
I remembered. Someone on B~1 berserk together; the Half an hour later, a fully a great sigh burst from
Now for the
the beach had asked me what a whole audience charged. In constiluted and uniformed island mass of them.
"But, Timon," I objected, really big warship was like, ond couple of seconds he was down, court was reinstalled In the showdown, it seemed to breathe, stunned, under their trampling speak-house. Arorae's prisen But I had found a way round, where's all that going to lead I had spread myself, trying to
he's in hospital...
1137 Threals of danger or describe the terrible
hitting population was normally five or "Yes
63 inen and women at Tarawa And talking of punishment just don't frighten power of a battle cruiser. slx, but They would certainly have were lined up that day.
-Tarawa, did I tell you this one?" Gilbertese men."
"Yes," he said, "that is what finished hint then but for one
It wasn't very clever. I grant
they are
battle thinking: lucky clrcumstance. Timoni,
you. I felt like a twisting rab- the chief pastor, had a wite whose colossal weight-2449. -wns superbly matched by her agility and loving kindness.
fest.
with
Nothing in
the records ·
bit. But it stunned them. They It sounded so cruser will come and take you
let me go on about Tarawa for another 10 minutes
By that time, I had dripped
an
alim
far-fetched
threats or mine
But
away from here, and when it is far out at sea-co, fur that none can see it-It will turn and fire all day and all night at Arorac, until not a man, not a pig, not a chicken is lett alive, This It because of the injury
white
man," There had been meeting after meeting about it. The hundreds been present who hadn't even at Albert's downfall were asking why they should be destroyed with those who had
first deputatlon suor echts Intera
She, seeing Albert's desperate wt, converted herself forth- 66 WELL, for heaven's sake, nya day of ideas, and the only
breakaway I could think of was NOT your
no," ho answered will do what is Nutan, in for?" I flying mour-
to ruhon-stop Inte voice clowly, but the threats they done to Lain of salvation. Her hurtling asked the court scribe, starting Journment: I think my mass, swept the astonished crowd with an aged fisherman, a very jumped a full octove with the imagine darkly in their own back like Bies from carrion. She old friend of mine.
strain of it as I twiltered, "Welt belles....these they fear.". fell upon the prostrate body, Al-
I admit it all sounded hope "For no crime that I know that's all about Tarawa and all bert disappeared from view.
of the scribe answered glumly, for today so goodbye we shall
But
what's in the records? meet again and you shall be Irsaly for-fetched to me. Timon! and half a dozen other parters, ringing the two What chargo....what evidence blest" I was on my feet with I promised to give it a trial.
There wero mally wayz Tho all who what did you write, in the the last words. around, beat back dared to charge again with books?"
That too shook them deeply. rough to the domestic heart along. stunning two-handed swings of "Nothing," he said, and that They actually gave me back the of most Islanders in those days. dozen men in the prime of life, their enormous black Bibles. ran for all the 63. The records traditional "You shall be blest" The enslest of all began with wearing the long white waist- So it came about that Albert's were just blank about them, all together, quite heartly, be the children, You had only to cloths of the Island, They had A a card to play and came to the life was saved by the very men Albert had dispensed with non- fore anyone came out of tho elt on the beach, pull out
string and begin point with a pitiful show of whose influence he had como sense like charges and evidence, haze. I was almost clear of the piece of to break on Aroras.
epealt-house when someone tried making a fow cats-crodies "to confidence: “Kürimbo, we have I turned from the books to again: "But Kurimbo that find them crowding round. been thiniding. We are here to Natan: "Well, you tell mo man?”. yourself how you prison:"
• This ectics is adapted from Return to the Islands, by Sir Arthur Grimble, to be published by John Murray. Last week's photographs were from the Alm Pacific Dealiny, based on Sir Arthur's Carlier book A Pattern
-----on-Islands.
got
into
corpo
offer a glit. In spite of what Mothers soon drifted up and that #ho
defnitely voice was plastivis Chim time, which you soon had a big sample of that man did to us, we are sorry for our anger, so we offer him village gossiping around 20 tons of copra....
They
pro- somehow gave me strength to the This was his story!--
answer quickly. "Aye, yes, I you.
posed, in short, to settle with The white man came to my had forgotten.. Thanks for the
how- Albert out of court, Remembering Albert, Good Christians dit village, saying, 'You will be my reminder.
{Continued on_Pago 7) Asherman, but I said to him, I of you. He also shall be bleat" ever, I couldn't believe it would questions askol
work that way on Arorie.." ama true man pind I do not This Bostock me out.
and
no
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