A long time ago, they said, some strangers came to Aru, and came here to Wanumbai, and the chief of the Wanumbai people did not like them, and wanted them to go away, but they would not go, and so it came to fighting, and many Aru men were killed, and some, along with the chief, were taken prisoners, and carried away by the strangers.

Some of the speakers, however, said that he was not carried away, but went away in his own boat to escape from the foreigners, and went to the sea and never came back again.

But they all believe that the chief and the people that went with him still live in some foreign country; and if they could but find out where, they would send for them to come back again.

Now having some vague idea that white men must know every country beyond the sea, they wanted to know if I had met their people in my country or in the sea.

They thought they must be there, for they could not imagine where else they could be.