His eyes were
of the pale blue of the deep waters, and his head was maned like
that of a sea lion. And his hair was yellow, like the straw of a
southern harvest or the manila rope yarns which sailormen plait.
'Of late years we had seen ships from afar, but this was the
first to come to the beach of Akatan. The feast was broken, and
the women and children fled to the houses, while we men strung
our bows and waited with spears in hand. But when the ship's
forefoot smelled the beach the strange men took no notice of us,
being busy with their own work. With the falling of the tide they
careened the schooner and patched a great hole in her bottom. So
the women crept back, and the feast went on.
'When the tide rose, the sea wanderers kedged the schooner to
deep water and then came among us. They bore presents and were
friendly; so I made room for them, and out of the largeness of my
heart gave them tokens such as I gave all the guests, for it was
my wedding day, and I was head man in Akatan. And he with the
mane of the sea lion was there, so tall and strong that one
looked to see the earth shake with the fall of his feet. He
looked much and straight at Unga, with his arms folded, so, and
stayed till the sun went away and the stars came out.
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