midday
Therefore , as soon as we had resumed our clothing , Murdock undertook the task of making known our intentions and wishes to our dusky friends . And the way he did it was amusing enough . In common with others of his kind he had repeatedly been brought into contact with foreigners of various nationalities , both civilised and savage , but he had one simple method of communicating with them all , a method which he was firmly convinced must be efficacious in exact proportion to the measure of intelligence possessed by the persons with whom he desired to communicate ; and that method was to speak to the stranger in broken English ! For example , he proposed to set these two natives to the task of collecting fuel for the purpose of cooking the fish which Chips and Sails were about to catch for our midday meal by going offshore a short distance in the catamaran ; and the way he did it was something like this . Turning to the two natives , he poked first one and then the other on the naked chest with his forefinger , to secure their attention , and then proceeded to remark , with much flourishing of his hands : `` Now then , Johnnie , and you , Jim , come along wi ' me and gather firewood . Savvy ? '' To this the natives naturally responded with a blank stare of non-comprehension , gradually merging into a broad smile .