Not long after this came an item of news which thrilled me through and through.
One of the chiefs told me quite casually that at another tribe, some days' journey away, the chief had TWO WHITE WIVES.

They had, he went on to explain, a skin and hair exactly like my own; but in spite of even this assurance, after the first shock of amazement I felt confident that the captives were Malays.

The news of their presence among the tribe in question was a well-known fact all along the coast of King's Sound.

My informant had never actually _seen_ the white women, but he was absolutely certain of their existence.

He added that the captives had been seized after a fight with some white men, who had come to that coast in a "big catamaran." However, I decided to go and see for myself what manner of women they were.