Panic In The Place

By "Daika."

THE night before, there had been Tul tuls and Boss-Boys standing on the hilltops surrounding the “place,”* sending the talk by the method employed for maybe thousands of years by their ancestors. The white man with all his magic, had not as yet introduced a better method of communication for them than that of sending the talk on the wind.

They had shouted themselves almost hoarse; but, before retiring—much later that night than normally—they had the satisfaction of hearing the talk picked up and passed along by kanakas in the far distant village^.

That morning, around 5.30—a most un godly hour for these people—the old Luluwai appeared on the scene, very sluggish and sleepy-looking, but intent, and purposefulness showing in every line of his aged countenance. He started the verbal ball rolling again. After yelling at the top of his lungs, and hearing his message picked up and passed away into the distance in the same manner as the previous night, he squatted down on the road and, with his homemade shovel— made from metal salvaged from a war wrecked DC3 —commenced energetically to clean the weeds from the roadside, and from out of the ditches.

Something was happening; and, what ever it was, must be pretty important— usually the Luluwai hammered some of his line into doing his dirty work while he just directed the proceedings.

After a short time he was joined by a couple of natives, who looked as though they were walking in their sleep. As soon as he saw them, the Luluwai jab bered at them harshly and they, too,

squatted down and began clearing weeds off the road and out of the ditches.

Every few minutes they were joined by increasing numbers of natives, all of them looking as though they had been on a binge the night before, but all with the same grim and purposeful expression as that worn by the Luluwai.

The meris arrived on the scene, followed by crowds of pikininis and half-starved dogs. The women were immediately put to work sweeping the road with their brush brooms, and the children were ex horted to keep out of the way, for heaven’s sake, and if they couldn’t assist themselves to let the adults get some work done.

The Luluwai had by this time handed over his shovel to a subordinate, and was racing round with a worried look on his old face, directing operations. Every now and then he would cast an anxious eye at the sun, and then jabber furiously at the kanakas. Whatever he said must have had some power behind it, because all bent their backs and, if possible, worked harder and faster.

After this, the Luluwai and his retinue of Tultuls repaired to the Government Rest-House. They conducted a tour of all the rooms, any fault found being im mediately remedied, and then out into the surrounding grounds. They yelled for some of their minions and gave them instructions.

Women went into the Rest House with their brooms: men went into the bush and returned with ferns and coloured leaves, these being tied with native rope around the doorway, to form an arch.