Barend Vlaardingerbroek: Of missionaries past and present

One of Arthur Conan Doyle’s more memorable minor characters was an Andaman Islander named Tonga in ‘The Sign of the Four’, whose countenance he described in the following unflattering terms:

Never have I seen features so deeply marked with all bestiality and cruelty. His small eyes glowed and burned with a sombre light, and his thick lips were writhed back from his teeth ….

It’s definitely not 21^st-century protocol, and yet I can’t help thinking that the impression left on the mind of the helicopter pilot who was being shot at by Andaman men with bows and arrows was not dissimilar, especially when he considered his fate should his craft be downed.