But one morning the headman came upon me when I was about to boil my kettle to make myself a cup of tea.

I had a small lamp that burned spirits, and he stood by while I filled it up from the bottle that I carried with me.
He took it for granted that the spirit was water, and he was greatly impressed when he saw it flare up as I applied a lighted match to it.

He asked me if I possessed the power to set water in a blaze, and I assured him that that was something for which I had long been celebrated; adding that when I had had my breakfast I meant to while away an hour or two by setting fire to the ocean itself.

He implored of me to reconsider my decision, and when I had poured a little spirit into the hollow of my hand and lighted it in the presence of his most eminent scientists, they said that they also desired to associate themselves with the headman's petition.

I was, however, inexorable; I walked down to the beach and had just struck a match on the brink of the ocean when the whole tribe prostrated themselves around me, promising to continue worshiping me if I would only stay my hand.