Chapters 31, and 32, pp. 330-349 Summary

Chapter thirty-one describes how, before going to sleep, the natives chant and bang sticks for an hour or so. The sounds produced are strange. Tommo creates a sensation by singing a song at Mehevi's Ti, or his kingly court, and is asked to sing on many occasions. A small nasal flute is made out of a reed and played by young women like Fayaway, producing a random though pleasant sound. Tommo tries to have a boxing match with one of the natives, but none is willing to fight him, so he does a sort of shadow boxing, which the natives find very amusing. The natives have their own special talents. One woman is seen in a stream teaching her nearly newborn baby how to swim. This is why the natives all grow up to be excellent swimmers...