“I have seen that you healed my injuries, and I have seen that you set on fire wooden spears embedded within my body. I wish to make requests so that I might learn what other deeds you are capable of.”
I then pulled a small portion of the clay free. I looked around at the natives and saw that the man standing next to Sinanie held a spear. I pointed at the spear and held out my hand for him to pass it to me. The man hesitated and then exchanged a few words with Sinanie, after which he extended the point so that I could grasp it, which I did, smearing the clay upon the tip.
I then formed in my mind a request. “Can you put fire to this spear?”
Before I even had the chance to release the spear, it ignited. I quickly withdrew my scorched hand and rubbed the palm into the dirt beneath me to soothe it. The man gazed in wonder at his burning spear for a moment and then put out the fire on the ground. This resulted in excited talking among the natives. I found this to be puzzling, as it now seemed to me that requesting such a thing from the Lamotelokhai was a simple matter, and surely they had learned before this day to make such requests.
I was much encouraged by this success. Although I had deemed it necessary, I had understood that asking the lump of clay to never again show me visions would limit what I could learn from it. However, now it seemed there was still much I could learn without the risk of conjuring visions that could cost me my sanity.
Next I placed a bit of the clay upon a birthmark I had always had on the back of my right hand.
“You have shown me that you can send machine-like objects into my body to repair my injuries. Can you repair this imperfection of my skin?”
I felt prickling on my hand before I had finished forming this silent request. I waited patiently. Some minutes later, the birthmark began changing its size and color, and before long it was not visible at all. In its place was healthy and pale skin, with normal hairs protruding from it rather than the abnormal long and black hairs that had grown there before.
The natives were much less impressed with this than they had been with the burning spear. I, however, perhaps due to my more advanced knowledge of civilized medical science and the intricate nature of healing, was duly impressed regarding such an operation.
Again I was encouraged by my success and was beginning to realize the immense possibilities. Hence, I made a slightly larger request. First I spread the clay onto my beard, which had grown quite wildly, as I had not shaved since I had last been in my house on Humboldt Bay. Having noted that my previous requests had been granted before I had even finished forming the words in my mind, I decided to try making a request without expressing silent words at all. Instead, I simply formed a mental depiction of my clean-shaven face.
Although I could not see my own face, it felt as if tiny ants were crawling about on it, reminding me of the night my wounds had healed as I tried to sleep. For a few minutes I resisted touching my face, but soon I was overcome with fears that something might go terribly wrong, resulting in my disfigurement, and I could not stop myself from putting both hands to my face. If the process had involved any pain, I am sure I would have cried out in panic, but I becalmed myself, and soon it was over. My face was then perfectly smooth, as if I had just had it shaved in the finest London barber’s shop. This time the natives were indeed impressed, resulting in much talking and pointing.
As I prepared to make my next request, a most peculiar thing happened. A tree kangaroo walked between the legs of the natives and stopped at my side. I was quite sure it was the same creature Charles had shot on the ill-fated day of his murder. The tree kangaroo gazed at me for a moment with the same countenance I had seen before, one of mild curiosity, although I assume this description to be of my mind’s invention. It then faced the nearest natives, sat up on its haunches, and began moving its forepaws about in the same intricate manner as before. Even more than before, I was convinced that this was a silent language of some kind, as the gesticulations seemed too precise to be otherwise. The natives watched this strange behavior with no particular expression on their faces, as if this were something they saw every day. After about a minute of this, the creature dropped back down upon all four feet and walked through the natives’ legs again. They allowed it to go without harming it.
This unusual exchange apparently brought an end to my session with the Lamotelokhai. Sinanie waved for me to stand up. Then, to my surprise, several of the men led me to a hut that was not my own. Two women were in the hut. They were similar in appearance to the woman I had seen several days before. They were surprised at my sudden presence and looked as if they might run away at any moment. However, Sinanie spoke to them, and with whispered remarks to each other and disdainful glances at me, they returned to their tasks. They were creating sago. Sinanie spoke to me as he pointed out various items and procedures, as if I were a student there for the purpose of learning of their indigenous culture.
The sago tree is a palm, of great thickness but not as high as a typical cocoa-nut tree. The sago has immense spiny leaves, sometimes fifteen feet long, which are used for many purposes. However, it is the pithy center of the broad trunk that is processed into sago, a staple food used by some hundreds of thousands of people of the Malay Archipelago. Assuming Sinanie’s tribe prepared sago in a way similar to Penapul’s Humboldt Bay tribe, the pith of the tree’s trunk would have first been cut from the tree where the tree had fallen, and then this pith would have been washed in a stream and kneaded until all that remained was a dense paste, or raw sago. It was this raw sago that these women worked with as I watched. A fire burned in one corner, and above it, suspended upon shelves made of clay, lumps of raw sago dried in the fire’s heat. Woven baskets that contained hard lumps of sago that had previously been dried sat next to the two women. The women were using rounded rocks to pound these hard lumps into fine powder. I assumed that this fine, dry powder could be stored for long periods of time and then mixed with water as needed, thus producing the rather tasteless sago paste that they had fed to me. It puzzled me why these natives did not bake this paste into sago cakes, which I knew to be a common way to prepare it and a way that was to my liking. However, with my limited use of their language I could not effectively ask them this.
As we descended the ladder from the hut, the man Ahea waited for us on the ground. He offered me some cooked meat and a plantain. Until this time I had consumed only sago paste, which certainly would sustain me but was quite bland. Thus I readily accepted these and consumed them at that very moment as if I were a starving beast. The natives laughed and pointed at me, apparently amused by this.
I was then taken to yet another hut, where a man I had not seen before sat upon the floor, carefully carving a small piece of wood with a sharpened bone. Numerous talismans, amulets, and other objects he had evidently already carved were neatly arranged on the floor. And there were stones, pieces of wood, and dried gourds, perhaps waiting to be carved.
As Sinanie pointed and talked, for this was apparently another lesson, I kneeled and inspected the completed objects more closely. I was struck by the artistry of each of them. The man, whose name I was told was Noadi, was highly skilled. There were small carvings of various animals, including several that appeared to be tree kangaroos, although they were of a peculiar artistic style, such as I had seen with carvings on totem poles in the museums of London. Next to these lay two spears with sharpened and fire-hardened points. Most striking, however, was that upon their shafts were carved the very same figures I had seen floating in the air before my eyes when I had put my hands upon the Lamotelokhai. I then saw that these same figures were carved into the surfaces of several hollow gourds scattered among the objects on the floor. These gourds were of the type the men wore upon their sexual organs. I picked up one of the gourds and held it out to Sinanie, also pointing to the figures carved upon his own gourd.
“I have seen these figures, when I touch the Lamotelokhai,” said I.
He replied, “Kho-Lamotelokhai di gekhené alip maf. Masek
ha doleli di nokhu alip maf. Gekhené, laléo, di alip maf Lamotelokhai.”
My translation (added when transcribing this notebook):
“The Lamotelokhai talks to you with those shapes (pictures). It is to invoke taboo for us to talk with those shapes. But you, outsider, talk to the Lamotelokhai with those shapes.”
Although I had scarcely tried speaking them myself, by this time I had learned some of the words of this tribe’s curious language. The word ‘di’ was a reference to ‘talking,’ the word ‘gekhené’ was a way of saying ‘you,’ and the word ‘maf’ meant something regarding a picture. Sinanie, I believe, was referring to the Lamotelokhai talking to me with pictures. Beyond that I could make little sense of what he had said.
Noadi picked up one of the slender gourds that had not yet been carved with figures. He spoke a few words and pointed to my sexual organ, which was still exposed for all to see. I had become so accustomed to my naked state and loss of dignity that I did not at first realize he meant for me to wear the gourd. I accepted the gift. The men in the hut quietly watched, apparently waiting for me to put it on, but I had not the slightest idea of how this was done, nor how the contrivance would stay in place once I began walking about. One reason for my confusion was that, unlike the men of the Humboldt Bay tribe, who used cords around their waists to secure their gourds upon their privates, Sinanie and his fellow tribesmen had no cords in place for such purpose. Hence, their gourds were prone to swinging from side to side as they walked.
I looked from the gourd in my hand to those worn by the natives before me, at which point they began a hearty roar of laughter. I was in no mood for such humiliation, and I held out the gourd to return it to Noadi. Instead of accepting it, he stood up and pulled on his own gourd until it came off with a rather revolting sound. It was then that I realized how these men kept their gourds from slipping off. They not only inserted their sexual organ into the gourd, but also they stuffed the scrotum and its two occupants inside, thus making all of this so tight that the gourd could only be removed with some force. Noadi stuffed the contents back into his gourd, making the process look quite easy. I tried it myself, resulting in even more hearty laughter, which in turn made me so determined to succeed that I finally accomplished the task. This involved no small measure of pain, but I refused to display any evidence of this that might produce further mockery.
I managed to muster an attitude of defiance. “I see that you find this to be amusing,” I said to Sinanie. “At least you could tell me what you call these ridiculous adornments.” I then pointed to my gourd and said, “Fi,” which was their word for ‘name.’
Sinanie pointed to his own gourd and replied, “Mbayap.” He then pointed to mine and said, “Mbayap-lena.” I knew the word ‘lena’ to mean ‘small.’
This began another round of exuberant merriment.
Those were the notable events of yesterday, April 27. Today I was taken from my hut for yet another session with the Lamotelokhai, which was followed by another lesson on the culture and language of these indigenes. It now seems scarcely possible that only a few days ago they seemed intent on maiming and killing me. I do not know for certain the reason that their treatment of me has changed as it has, but it seems likely to be a result of my progress with the Lamotelokhai. The natives wish for me to learn what I can of it, although to what consequence I can only guess. This is fortunate for me, as I now have no other desire so great as to understand more of what it can do.
It is certainly true, I must add, that I wish to survive this ordeal and someday return to London to see my parents, my friends, and my betrothed, Lindsey. I yearn for their company, and I have no desire to expire here in the wilderness without returning to them, and without informing others of what is hidden here. Perhaps I may eventually be capable of formulating a request for the Lamotelokhai to help me escape this village and take it with me to civilization. However, until that is possible, my place is here, among the savages who nearly killed me.
When I was taken today from my hut, instead of leading me to the clearing where I had previously worked with the Lamotelokhai, the natives led me to yet another hut I had not yet seen. When we climbed the ladder to the hut, I saw there the lump of clay, resting upon its carrying platform, which in turn rested upon a short bamboo table. The table, only about knee high, stood in the middle of the room, and living vines were growing up its legs and over every inch of its surface. Tendrils and stems of the vines intertwined with the bamboo in such a way that, until looking more closely, I thought perhaps the table itself was a living plant.
Sinanie gestured for me to approach the table, indicating that today I was to have my lesson in this hut. I had not anticipated such an arrangement, thus I used some gesticulations and words I had learned to explain that I wished to leave the hut before beginning. He seemed to understand, and he followed closely as I went to the ground and collected several small stones. I then looked about under some fallen branches and rotten trunks until I located a large stag beetle, which I carefully captured and handed over to Sinanie, indicating to him that I wanted it kept alive. Finally, I picked up a few sticks and pulled a small plant from the soil, and we returned to the hut where the Lamotelokhai and three other natives awaited.
For my first experiment I placed a stone upon the table beside the lump of clay. I rested my hands on the clay and formed a vision in my mind, in which I imagined the stone breaking apart into fine sand. I pulled off some of the clay and smeared it onto the stone. After perhaps a minute of waiting, the stone cracked into two pieces with a sharp pop. Each of the halves then cracked into two more, and each of those into two. Before long the pieces cracking apart were too small to see, although I still heard innumerable faint pops as they broke apart. In place of the stone there was now a pile of sand.
My next request was a bold one, which I was doubtful could be achieved. I placed a second stone on the table, put my hands on the clay, and formed a vision of the stone transforming into gold. I smeared a pinch of clay upon the stone and waited. Soon the stone’s color began changing, until finally it was the very color of gold. I picked it up, only to discover that it was no heavier than before. It was most certainly not gold. Either my request was not understood, or the task was simply beyond the capabilities of the Lamotelokhai. Thus I put words to my request.
“I wish for the entire nature of this stone to become gold. Gold is a metal, which is much heavier than the minerals that make up this stone. Gold, in fact, is the heaviest of all metals. Can you do this?”
I then anointed the stone with more clay and waited. The stone’s shape began to change, imperceptibly at first and then more quickly, until it resembled melted gold, its surface shiny and smooth. I held my hand above it and felt no heat. When I picked it up, the lower side was imprinted with the contours of the tabletop, as if it had indeed melted there and then cooled and hardened. It was now less than half the size of the original stone, and based upon its weight, I could only conclude that it was gold. Needless to say, I was quite delighted over this. However, at the same time, I experienced an ominous sense of dread. I had made this request as a result of my scientific curiosity, but others would view it with quite different motives. This ability was the kind of thing that men were inclined to fight wars over.
Alas, I hadn’t time to ponder on such matters, as I did not wish to squander the short time I was allowed with the Lamotelokhai. I had determined to discover what I could regarding the effects of the clay upon living things other than myself. I beckoned Sinanie to bring me the stag beetle, which he had kept alive in his hands. I took the beetle and placed it upon the table. It was an impressive insect, rusty in color and nearly four inches long. Half this length was comprised of two massive mandibles, looking somewhat like the antlers of a deer. The beetle began walking about the tabletop.
This time I tried making a request by combining expressed words with a mental vision. “I wish to change the color of this beetle,” said I. And then I formed a vision of t
he beetle with a beautiful metallic violet exoskeleton. I rubbed clay on the beetle, and soon after that I was gazing upon the exact creature I had imagined, a four-inch beetle of a lustrous and nearly luminous purple color. It was unlike any beetle I had seen before, and I was sure no such beetle had hitherto been discovered. This astonishing transformation brought forth words of amazement from the natives standing behind me.
The beetle seemed unaware that anything unusual had happened, and it continued picking its way through the living vines as it walked along the edge of the table. Occasionally it tipped its body headfirst over the edge before apparently deciding it did not want to fall off, after which it would pull itself back from the brink and continue on its original path.
An experiment then occurred to me that I had not thought of before. If the Lamotelokhai could put visions into my mind, perhaps it could influence the thoughts of other creatures as well. This time I simply spoke my request aloud.
“I wish to alter the way in which this beetle behaves,” I said. “It seems to fear walking over the edge of the table. I wish for it no longer to fear this.”
I reached out to apply another pinch of clay to the beetle’s back, yet then I stopped, thinking that perhaps it was not necessary, as I had already applied the clay once. The creature continued walking, occasionally testing the table’s edge and then pulling back, obviously unwilling to lose its footing and fall to the floor. Then, however, after several more attempts, it suddenly seemed to hold no fear. Without a moment’s hesitation, it walked off the edge and plunged to the floor, landing upon its back. Unharmed, it used its large mandibles and slender legs to turn itself over. I placed it back upon the table, only to watch it fall to the floor again.
As I watched the beetle continue this behavior, I contemplated the implications, and again I was overcome with foreboding and dread. If it was such a simple matter to change the beetle’s behavior, perhaps I could influence the thoughts and behaviors of any living creature, including men. Perhaps I could cure madness or intellectual deficiencies. However, perhaps I could also persuade men or women to carry out acts against their own will. I could scarcely imagine what might happen if the Lamotelokhai were to fall into the hands of a mad man, or perhaps just a man with lordly ambitions. My thoughts on this matter consistently led to my imagining undesirable consequences. It seemed that for every possible benefit of this clay, there were innumerable wicked deeds to be contemplated.
Diffusion Box Set Page 96
