The next day half of the inhabitants came on board—Walin, Kortz, Forsayth, Kolbe (Queen Emma’s husband), and amongst them Mr. Parkinson, a most pleasant and gentlemanly man, who is a great authority on all the islands and the native ways and customs, and has written several books on these subjects. From his name and looks I took him for an Englishman, but he told me he was a German, and that his family had been German for generations.
[I might here recommend to any one interested Mr. Parkinson’s well-illustrated and most interesting work, Dreizig Jahre in der Südsee, though I do not think it has ever been translated into English. It teems with interesting information, and is certainly the most valuable book published on German New Guinea.]
When I came in to lunch and found all this crowd there, Captain Niedermayer asked me would I mind for once taking a seat not my usual one, which, of course, I did not mind, especially as, being a Scottish Highlander, wherever I sit is “the head of the table.” Then King Peter entered, gave a look at his hated rival, Mr. Forsayth, seated in his place, and left the saloon. A message was then brought to the Captain that King Peter demanded his own seat, was a passenger, and was not going to be so treated! The Captain repeated it out loud, got into a passion, and a terrific uproar ensued. King Peter got his seat, but the uproar went on, and was continued on deck, where King Peter, the Captain, and Herr Kolbe nearly came to blows! It was a long, simmering feud at last bursting into open flame. Germans have no control over themselves, and scream, shout, and shake their fists at each other in a perfect passion of nervous rage. I regret to say I coolly sat down and regarded it all as if it
