Murder, She Said!

Riot talk has been on in Rabaul, New Guinea, again recently—and as usual, the local “bung”, or native market, was the place it was most likely to happen. It was therefore a case of taking up panic stations when, just before Christmas, in the middle of a busy morning at the market, a Tolai woman began to scream in terror.

Other natives, thoroughly jit tery from a week of rumours about the impending trouble, started to run and the police moved in armed with rifles to eject everyone swiftly from the market and seal off the area.

It was only then that it was found that the cause of the alarm was a snake that had fallen down from the roof of a thatched house and started the native woman off into some ladylike hysterics.