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Chalmers, James, 1841-1901

"Adventures in New Guinea"

The Kalo people
have not been slow in acting upon his advice. I visited Hula and
Kerepunu within six weeks of the massacre, and was so impressed with the
peaceful bearing of the people in both places that I should have been
glad to have re-occupied both stations immediately.
I should have visited Kalo, but was afraid of compromising the mission,
as it is possible the natives may be punished for the outrage. I fear we
are not altogether free from blame; the teachers are often very
indiscreet in their dealings with the natives, and not over-careful in
what they say; there has also, perhaps, sometimes been a niggard regard
to expense on our part. A very few pounds spent at a station like Kalo
in the first years would, I believe, prevent much trouble, and probably
murder. The Kalo natives felt that Hula and Kerepunu got the most
tobacco and tomahawks, and that their share was small indeed. Instead of
our buying all the thatch required for the other stations--only
obtainable at Kalo--we got the teachers, with their boys, to get it.


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