| caption: |
Joboka headman denies they have guns; Ninu deny that Holcombe's murderer is there |
| text: |
52. On the 11th, taking a very small camp with us, Captain Brydon and I started for Joboka via Banfera. I went up to the mark, about a quarter-mile above the village, and, the evening being clear, managed to do a little work. Shortly after I reached the mark, I heard a gun fired in the village. Captain Brydon tells me that he had just then reached the village, and I imagine it was a signal-gun to give warning of the approach of strangers, though afterwards, when the headman went into camp and Captain Brydon questioned him, the old fellow stoutly denied that there was a single gun in the village, and accounted for the report by saying it must have been a bamboo cracked by heat. On the 12th, I went up to the hill at dawn, and set the coolies to work to put up the mark. A heavy shower of rain fell and cleared the atmosphere, and I got the signal up and all my observations done before 10 a.m., and we started the camp off at that hour. The coolies went well, and we got back to Bor Bansang at 6 p.m. We halted on the 13th and 14th, and I did some work at the Senua mark each day. On the 14th, Messrs. Hinde and Ogle joined us. (An account of their tour will be found in Appendix D). Two messengers from Ninu came in in the afternoon, who swore Ponghi was not there. I told them I did not believe them, and that we were going there next day. |
