James will definitely be dangerous if Raju gets too close; for all he's not used to being confronted with a bow and arrow, he also feels a little more confident about his chances of taking the weapon if he ends up within arm's reach of it. But unless he gets the opportunity, talking seems to be best tactic to go with, and since he'd vastly prefer to escape the situation without a physical fight--both for his own sake and this stranger's--that's fine with him for now.

"I arrived recently." He's already lost track of the days, but between being relatively new and spending much of his time resting, it's no surprise he might not have met this person yet. That part is easy to explain. But the rest of it, why he might be out here, is possibly less so; he could say he's looking for a friend, which is true, but the natural followup would be to ask who it is. And considering the situation, with the tensions and hostility, James isn't completely sure he wants to give that information to someone threatening him with a bow and arrow.

Instead, he briefly considers options, and tests his luck a little. "Is it unusual to venture this far from town?" Seems like people would be exploring all over, so James is trying to get a better sense of it might be the situation causing this man to react this way, or if he's simply always territorial. Different motivations require different approaches.