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the croc was allowed to catch up with the chicken.  He grabbed it so suddenly that Bill missed photographing the actual snatch, but got the croc with his jaws full of feathers.  Then a bottle of cane juice was produced (we had brought it with us) and a little was poured into the mouth of the reptile, who thereupon raised himself on all four legs and trotted contentedly back into the sea.  He emerged a few moments later to chase a puppy dog, which scampered off in great fright.

Our boatman hoisted a sail coming back, and there were stretches where we made pretty good time.  We ladies all got off and walked again along the beach coming back, but the men went with the boat across the bar.  The way these big boats - they're about like life boats - manoever their way through rolling breakers without getting the passengers soaked, never ceases to amaze me.

In the evening Mr. Paul and Mr. Fuchs came to dinner, which consisted of tinned corned beef and cabbage, avocadoes, and brandied dates from California.  The two German doctors came over later on to drink beer with us till nearly midnight.

May - 

We walked over to the Mission this morning, to talk with Miss McKenzie about plans for our forthcoming bush trip.  While there we listened to a brief broadcast from London, and learned of German bombing flights over France, and of Germany's invasion of Holland and Belgium.  Our neighbors are flying a big Nazi flag this morning.

Miss True came for lunch, which was one of Bill's stew concoctions and very good.

In the evening Mrs. Bodewes and Mr. Loefler called, and stayed quite late because of the violent thunderstorm.  She had not been told of the German invasion of Holland, so for the last time probably in many years we entertained [[strikethrough]] a [[/strikethrough]] Dutch and German guests at the same time.

May 11-Mrs. Bodews, who by now knows the worst, came for lunch, and wept over her country's plight.

In the afternoon the German doctors, Miss True and I went to the nearby town of Toso, where there were supposed to be special festivities accompanying the end of the woman's bush.  Toso is a pleasant little town near the sea, with big trees around it, but the dances, if any, did not begin until too late for us to see them.  We went over in a surf boat, and wanted to get back before dark.  We did see three devil dancers in a new kind of costume, consisting of long black hair instead of the customary palm fiber, and wearing carved black masks.  The women came through town in a sort of snake dance, with the new initiates walking between two files of women, so that they could not be seen plainly.  One gruesome feature of the afternoon was that several [[strikethrough]]islands [[/strikethrough]] lepers from the nearby island colony had come over to watch proceedings, although they are supposed to be kept in complete isolation.  Dr. Kock showed us one small boy who had been cured of leprosy by the Mission station here.

May 12- In the morning we called on the Huygens and Mrs. Bodewes and listened to the depressing war news over the radio.

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