I UC-NRLF B 3 3E7 375 llfiiiil mti .. IIRRABY LIBRARY umwmsny of CAi.lP«ftN1A . At x . DAWN ISLAND. % &&\t. BY HARRIET MARTIXEAU MANCHESTER: J. GADSBY, NEWALL'S-BUILDINGS, 1845. A) 3 dlaur CONTEXTS CHAP. PAGE. 1 . — Nature and Man at War 7 2. — Puerile Man and his Gods 14 3.— The Priest and the Oracle 25 4. — More Human Sacrifice 32 5.— Vital Tribute 38 6. — The Priest and the Advent 48 7. — A Higher Disclosure 62 8.— Spiritual Tribute 74 9. — Nature and Man at Peace 86 877 P R E F A C E This Tale, written for the purpose, is my offering to the Bazaar of the National Anti - Corn - Law League. However small its value, this contribution is made by me without hesitation, because I think that earnestness of conviction on the principle of Free Trade, — as on any principle whatever, — is most effectually evinced and employed by every one working in his own way for the cause. The sepa- rate gifts of a thousand of us contributors may be of insignificant value in themselves ; but, as evi- dence that a thousand minds, and a thousand pairs of hands have been at work on the ground of a common conviction, the testimony is not unimpor- tant. For my share, therefore, I have written this Tale ; and I shall be gratified by its being granted a place among a myriad of other avowals of interest in the cause of Free Trade. H. MARTINEAU. Birmingham. April, 1845 NATURE AND MAN AT WAR. / F a voyager were to search through the world for an abode of peace, he would probably choose, for its outward aspect, one of the small tropical islands of the Pacific ; and of the whole Archipelago, no one could present a more en- ticing appearance of tran- 8 DAWN ISLAND. quillity than that which was, while yet unknown to navigators, called by its inhabitants the Island of the Day Spring; or, as we should call it for short- ness, Dawn Island. The lofty summits of the central mountains seemed to bring down to earth something of the unfathomable quietness of the tropical skies which overarched them. The trans- parency of the atmosphere gave an appearance of stability to every object within reach of the eye, — a clearness of outline, and firmness of position, hardly to be conceived of by inhabitants of regions where every thing is seen through shifting and refracting fogs and mists. The waving of the plumy foliage of the cocoa-nut grove, and the leap and gush of the mountain streams, rather lulled than disturbed the senses of the observer; and if he turned his gaze to the shores, he could not but think that the space between them and the coral reef which sur- rounded the island contained the stillest waters he had ever seen. The coral reef extended to various distances from the shore, now stretching out so as to enclose a lake-like expanse of two miles in breadth, and then bending inwards so as to leave DAWN ISLAND. no more room than for two canoes to pass. To any gazer, looking down into the clear depths of these waters, all appeared even calmer than on the sur- face. Fathoms deep, he saw an apparent foliage and fruitage, delicate as vegetation itself — fragile- looking as the slenderest weeds, but giving way to no lapse of waters, and not stirred by the gliding of a throng of fishes, as the boughs of trees are by the flitting of birds. These many-coloured corals, sprouting and branching out from the sandy bottom, gave the idea of a luxuriant garden suddenly over- flowed, and petrified by the deluge. The stillness of the land and waters within the reef was made more striking by the charing of the ocean beyond. The long breakers rolled in, rising in height and force as if they would surmount the barrier, but clear and lovely as opal ; and on the first encounter with the reef, their white crests were dispersed in showers of spray, which merely dimpled the smooth waters within, and sent a solemn sea music re- sounding through the nearer inland groves. While such was the peaceful aspect of Dawn Island in ordinary times, there was one day in the B 10 DAWN ISLAND. history of its inhabitants when all was disturbance, through its length and breadth. Wars were indeed frequent, — aggressive or defensive wars with the people of another island, or conflicts arising from rebellion at home. On the present occasion, an expedition, with the king for its leader, was going forth to put down an insurrection on the opposite point of the island, where a dismissed minister had gathered round him all the discontented, and was putting forth a claim to the regency of the island, on the deposition of the king, — the heir being still a child. On the kings side, the preparations had been going forward for some days. The weapons were cleaned and pointed, and their handles smeared with resinous gum, to make them fast in the warriors' grasp; the god Oro was brought out from his temple, and a red feather solemnly taken from the image by the priests, and borne hither and thither with the army, as a symbol of Oro's presence and sanction; the fleet of canoes was assembled in the lagoon, and the altars were dressed in those which were to con- vey the symbols and sacrifices of the gods. While DAWN ISLAND. 1] the priests were preparing for the final ceremonial, and the king was holding a council under the deep shade of a bread-fruit tree, the orators were working up themselves and their hearers of the army into a state of high excitement, bidding the warriors to dart upon their enemies like a sheaf of lightning bolting from the clouds, to fasten upon them as barbed arrows on the flesh of the thigh, to over- whelm them as a waterspout advancing upon a fish- ing fleet, and finally to come home in triumph, to devour their chief foe as the shark swallows the strong man, when most secure in his strength. Some of the hearers were transported with the fervour of the oratory, casting glances of fire on their comrades, and uttering shouts of triumph. Of these comrades, however, some were of a different temperament, and j others had their sobriety of mind preserved by the sight of their wives, who were hanging on the rear of the assemblage ; or of their houses, which peeped out from the groves, or nestled in the meadows; and these remembered that the triumph was premature, and that, till the disposition of Oro was fully ascer- tained, no man could say with any assurance on 12 DAWN ISLAND. which side would be the victory, and on which the devastation. Among some of these soldiers arose a rumour of " Where is Miava? Who has seen Miava, on this day when he should have been seen by every one ?" And this muttered inquiry was taken up and loudly echoed by the women, whose excited imagi- nations immediately caught the alarm. A panic spread lest old Miava should have gone over to the rebels, and carried Oro's favour with him. In haste and trepidation, numbers ran to see whether the presents brought for the priest were sufficient — whether the mats and the cloth were of a handsome quality, and so arranged as to please the old man's eye, and stimulate his zeal in propitiating the god. All was found satisfactory enough, — at least in the eyes of the priest next in rank, who gave notice that Miava had merely retired to the woods, for peace and quiet, till the war should be over. He was now weary of the wars of which he had seen so many; and he left it to younger men to deal expressly with the gods, and receive the reward of their prayers and watchings. As the fatigues and anxieties were left to his juniors, so were the mats and the cloth, DAWN ISLAND. L3 and even the canoe which he had heard was intended for him if he obtained a good response on the pre- sent occasion. Xo one ventured to say a word in disparagement of the junior priests ; but all were cast down by the absence of old Miava, who had for many years of- fered with his own hand the last human sacrifice. slain while the warriors stood, ready to start, with their arms in their hands. The king, who kept an eye on all that passed, from his station in the shade, marked the discouragement which fell upon the forces, and the cooling down of the orators, as their hearers turned their heads another way. He gravely observed to his council, " Miava must be brought clown from the woods. By sunset, he must have his hand on the stem of the sacred tree." "But if he will not come?" objected the chief minister. " Then the war cannot proceed; and which of you will suffer that? Miava must come." CHAPTER II. PUERILE MAN AND HIS GODS. At sunrise of this, as of every day, Miava had come out, to spend his hours in the wood or on the rocks. There was nothing in the abodes of any of the inhabitants of the island to tempt them to stay within, — no coolness, nor cleanliness, nor comfort. Holes in the roof let in the rain and mosquitoes ; hollows in the earthen floor held stagnant water; the long grass with which the floor was strewed was never changed, and the food and drink dropped upon it rotted and fermented; so that the litter was presently fit only for a stye. There was no se- parate sleeping place; only the drier parts of the floor were chosen, — the parts near the walls, and there the mats were spread, and a low block of wood was placed for each head that desired the luxury of a pillow. Those who had pigs let them wallow in the midst ; and those who had fowls let ]>A\YN ISLAND. 1 5 them perch where they would. No wonder that Miava was out early, exchanging the grunt and cluck of his domestic stock for pleasanter out-door sounds, for the fall of the broad bright cascade which leaped the rocks near his hut, for the rustle and clatter of the long stiff leaves and light leaf- lets of the cocoa-nut trees which sprang from the crevices of the precipice at hand, and for the distant murmur of the sea. As he came out, he glanced at the smaller hut which stood a little way behind his own. Women, being regarded as an inferior race, were provided with a sort of kennel, where they might eat their coarser and poorer food, and wait the bidding of the men of the family. They were required to cook for their masters at the superior oven provided for the better abode, to carry in the baskets of food and wait on the eaters, and at night to sleep in the most comfortless corner of the larger dwelling ; but further than this they were not indulged. They must eat only when others had done, must not touch anything particularly good nor complain of anything particularly bad, must always be within 16 DAWN ISLAND. call, and wait standing, must not lie dow r n at night till all the animals were asleep, and must, without fail, be busy at the oven before their masters awoke in the morning. So Miava glanced round at his daughter's kennel and at the ovens, and, not seeing her, ought, according to rule, to have been very angry. But Miava was not wont to be angry ; and least of all with Idya. Idya was not his own daughter ; but had been adopted under circumstances which en- deared her to him as much as if she were. She had been deserted in her early childhood, — her parents being both slain in war, and no one caring to nou- rish a helpless little creature of a sex not worthy to be offered in sacrifice, and of an age not ripe for cooking and beating fibre-cloth. So she would have perished on some rock or in some recess of the meadows, if Miava, who was of such dignity as to brave public opinion without detriment, had not connived at her continued existence, and tacitly taken some measures to secure it. He threw her some of the inferior sorts of fish w^hich were brought to him in tribute, and did not inquire where she HAWX ISLAND. 17 broiled thein. She once found in her sleeping hole a mallet for beating cloth, — a mallet which was not too heavy for her strength, — a clear permission to learn to make cloth, if she could induce any women to teach her. It was even reported that not only had some one provided her with a bark foot-sling, for climbing cocoa-nut trees, but that Miava himself was once caught showing her how to use it, and taking care that she did not fall in her first attempt. By some imperceptible means, Idya grew up to be useful, like other girls, and to be indulged as few other girls were. When, as on this morning, she was not abroad before her proprietor, he did not beat or scold her, but said to himself that he was pro- bably astir earlier than usual, or that Idya looked prettier and pleasanter when she was awakened by the first sun ray or the early breeze, than when scared out of her sleep by a kick or a growl. He first repaired to his morning station, a point of rock whence he could overlook in privacy the valley beneath, and a wide range of shore. There he forgot everything in the interest of watching the gathering of the forces, and the reception of the 18 DAWN ISLAND. king and his council. He was thankful to be on his quiet perch, rather than amidst the prepara- tions, — for other reasons than he could freely avow. His mind was troubled by so much strife, and far more deeply troubled by being made, through his office, the abettor of strife. He had only followed custom and tradition in what he had done ; but of late these had failed to sustain him completely, — to steel his heart against the cries of dying men, and to make him glory, for the sake of the gods, in sending the victim's right eye on a leaf for the king to pretend to eat. The slightest qualm of doubt as to the correctness of such proceedings spoiled all the complacency of them; and then again, there was the fear that any such qualm was an offence against the gods. He was glad that years and long service now afforded him an excuse before Oro and the king for being out of the affair altogether. And with this sense of relief he looked down this morn- ing on the moving multitude. As he watched, absorbed in thought, he was startled by a rustling in the bushes near, and next by the appearance of a woman whom he knew as DAWN ISLAND. 19 the inhabitant of one of the best abodes in the valley below. Her face was now convulsed with fear, and her dress was torn, as if with scrambling through the thickets. She strove to speak, in vain. " Feito," said the priest, "your son is now T a man; and he must go out with men to the battle. When he was dying under the sorcerer's curse, and you fetched me to save him, was it not your wish to see him a man among men on such a day as this?" " It is my wish now," replied the sobbing mother; " but the best hope for him now is that he may be as a beast among the mountains." "Is he tabooed?" quickly inquired Miava. " He is, — and in him all of us. Many months since, he sent to the king only half the bread-fruit that was expected, though we kept too little for our- selves. Since then, I have lived in fear. My chil- dren said to me still when the new moon appeared, 'We are safe;' but they will say so no more. The chief of our valley received the token to find a vic- tim last night. He accepted it, There is no other than my son fit for the sacrifice. We have fled thus far. Tell us where further to fly." n SO DAWN ISLAND. "Where is Motuaro? Gone up the mountain before you?" "How could he pass the threshold of Idya?" said the mother, with a melancholy smile. Miava sighed, as he quickly turned homewards, followed by Feito and her young daughter. He had seen with satisfaction, for some time past, that Mojr uaro loved Idya. He had hoped to see Idya the young man's wife : but now, if the family must leave their bread-fruit tree and their fishing boat, and be outcasts in the mountains, what could he wish? As he expected, he found Idya in tears, yet not listening to her lover, but rather hastening from him to meet his mother, to whom she rushed with a wail of grief, as soon as she saw her. The young man, who was following closely and sadly, now turned back, saying, " She does not love me. I will go and be the sacrifice, for no one else is so miserable." " You will go to the mountain," said Miava, with a tone of authority. "You are young; the king will soon be old, and the taboo may be buried in his grave." DAWN ISLAND. 21 " The taboo is everywhere now," cried the mother in despair. " I can show you a place where it cannot hurt you," said Miava, wrapping his garment about him, as if preparing to guide the fugitives. During the moment of waiting, the ears of the mother, quickened by terror, caught the sound of voices from amidst the wood below. At a sign from her, all listened. It was certain that men were approaching. Not an instant was to be lost. Miava whispered to Idya, " Lead Feito and her son up by the path of the torrent to the sorcerer's den. They must enter it without fear ; but you must not set foot in it. You must at once return, — and by the other path. No one is in the cave, and nothing shall hurt them. They will find food there till I can show them how to find more." At a sign from his hand, the party were gone. Miava did not return to his station ; for he desired to intercept the party who were ascending through the wood. As he leaned against the door- post of his hut, awaiting them, the thought that 2"2 DAWN TSLAND. ^-> more and more haunted his life settled down gloomily on his mind. ^\ "'The forest- tree shall grow; the coral shall spread and branch out ; but man shall cease. 1 If J> ~~~ prophecy is true, this is the truest. My father walked through thirty peopled valleys; and his father through fifty. Of those fifty I have seen thirty desolate. Our young men die childless out- casts in the dens of the mountain ; and our strong warriors go out and never return. Yes, the tree grows as lofty as ever; and the coral spreads in the sea as the convolvulus on the earth;" — and he looked from side to side, and could see no space between the trees where its bell-flowers did not sprinkle the grass; — " but man is fast dwindling, and mil soon cease from our world. Too true is prophecy; and some fearful prophecies remain." Here his meditation was interrupted by the messengers from the king, who came to beseech or require him to officiate in the sacrifice below. For some time he resisted. But when it appeared that the greater number of the party were on the point of being despatched in pursuit of a victim for sacri- DAWN ISLAND. --23 fice on the mountain, his concern for Motuaro and his mother, and his immediate power of saving them prevailed. He agreed to go on certain con- ditions ; — that the deputation should, to a man, attend him, with such observances as he should prescribe ; that he should select the victim ; and that he should be the watcher in the temple at night for the response of Oro. It was with a heavy heart that Miava slowly descended to the shore. The herald blew T the trumpet-shell before him, — its harsh blast startling the birds from their hiding places in the trees ; and a young priest in the rear beat the sacred drum, whose dreary sound spread fear of the taboo wher- ever it was heard. " I had hoped," thought Miava, " never again to have spread fear through a race already doomed to cease. But by waiting on the god this once more, I may save a man. Yet, is it saving a man, when another must be chosen ?" He put down this pain- ful question by the remembrance, " This, however, is not my affair. It was within the memory of my fathers when the gods first required, by a dream, that 24 DAWN ISLAND. the highest gift — man himself — should be offered. I am glad I was not the dreamer ; but there can be no doubt of the will of the gods. And it is good to be able to choose the sacrifice, and turn aside the vengeance of the king. And it may be that Oro will give no response to-night ; and then the war must not proceed, and many will be spared. How the people fly from the trumpet and drum! But the gods must be served, or man will cease at once. Oro perhaps chooses one to save a multitude. At all events, we must entice him from going over to the rebels. And Aiotuaro is safe for this time." CHAPTER III. THE PRIEST AND THE ORACLE. As soon as the assemblage on the shore perceived that the priest had come to the sacrifice, shouts of joy rent the air. The king did not conceal his ex- ultation ; and at his command, more presents were brought, and laid on the pile of the priests' offer- ings. Miava's heart was somewhat lightened. He unconsciously felt the reality that there must be in any observances which so deeply involved men's passions of hope and fear ; and he was aware of the dignity there was in being the medium between them and the unseen powers. He approached the Aoa, — the sacred tree which none but priests could pass without trembling, — and looked up among its wilderness of boughs with a tranquil gaze. There hung two human bodies, — the sacrifices offered at the beginning of the war-gathering. These he or- dered down, and caused to be enclosed in baskets c 26 DAWN ISLAND. of cocoa-nut leaves, and slung up to the rafters of the temple, to leave the tree clear for the one re- maining victim. This tree, much resembling the banian, was as good an illustration as the vegetable world could furnish of the continuous being and self-diffusion of the deities worshipped in Dawn Island. Every branch sending down roots to the ground, and the sources of life being thus multiplied perpetually, it seemed as if the tree must live for ever; No man could ever learn from his fathers when this grove- like tree was a sapling ; and it was now a firm and universal belief that a bird had brought some seeds from the moon, and had dropped one on Dawn Island in his flight. While Miava, in examining the interior of the Aoa, retired out of sight beneath its pillar-like stems, the gazers little knew that he met his attendants under the shadow, to give orders fatal to one of themselves. He named the victim, — and in a few moments more the man was felled by a blow on the back of the head, as he stood on the outskirts of the crowd, jesting with a comrade. He was a young DAWN ISLAND. 27 man of turbulent temper and vicious habits, who could be spared better than most; yet his heavy fall, and the shrieks of his flying family, penetrated with horror all who saw and heard. Such specta- cles might increase their awe and dread of the gods, and certainly lessened their feeling for the sufferings of men; but the natural anguish of the moment could not be extinguished by custom and famili- arity. The rites now went forward with order and speed. The chief victim was suspended from the tree ; the hogs were slain and baked, — their heads placed upon the altars, and their flesh partly eaten by the priests. The messengers of the gods, rising in the shape of birds from out of the tree, on a burst of harsh music, were dismissed to the place of abode of the deities, somewhere near the foundation of the world, to announce and invite, in the usual terms: — "There is war in the world. Come up to the place of light, and help your worshippers." Before evening, the red feathers, taken from Oro's very image, were deposited in the sacred canoes; and all was ready for starting at davbreak, if only 28 DAWN ISLAND. the response of the god in the night should be fa- vourable. For its announcement, many waited with anxiety. The king himself lay on his mat before the gate of the temple ; and his council watched on the steps which, on three sides, surrounded the in- closure. Miava was within, — he alone; and his station was in the innermost court. There stood the image of the god Oro, under a sort of wooden canopy. The rest of the court was open to the sky, but so walled round as that no eye could pry into the transactions of the priest and the oracle. Miava was intently on the watch for a sign from the god. How it would come, he knew not; whe- ther in the sighing of the breeze, or the piping of the night bird becoming articulate, or in a louder murmur of the waves, or by shooting stars Hashing across the sky. (as meteors do in that climate,) or in a dream. After listening till his senses became confused, he lay down before the image, and looked up into the heavens, in order not to miss any token that might be manifested there. His sight was so dimmed by age that even the steady blazing stars of the tropical sky were to him blent in one hazy DAWN ISLAND. 29 light; but if Oro wished to communicate with him, he would send a flaming meteor sufficiently near to the earth. The uncertain waiting for such a sign, however, wearied his eyes, and he slept, — a broken and anxious sleep. He dreamed, or fancied, that a voice whispered to him, — he knew not whence, — " The forest- tree shall grow; the coral shall spread; but man shall cease." Anxious to be assured, he cried, "Again!" But his own voice roused him. He started up. Nothing seemed changed. The hideous image of Oro stared, immoveable as ever, and the sounds of the night were all that was heard. Miava's heart interpreted the prophecy, recurring at such a moment, as a token that there must be more slaughter, — that the war must proceed. But he would not conclude hastily. The night was not half spent, If Oro, or a messenger spirit from him, had really entered the image, there would be some- thing done to preclude doubt, For hours he waited. The breeze had died away ; the piping bird had gone to roost; the heavens were calm. There was no further sign. 30 dawn island- As the dawn broke, and objects within the court became more clear, he perceived that something hung from the neck of the idol which was not wont to be there, — the singing-shell used by sorcerers in their divinations. These shells, being never known to refuse to answer, were carefully monopolized by those who had a right to intercourse with the demon which each contained. Miava saw at once that Oro had sent his messenger to speak to him through this shell. Reverently and anxiously he lifted the shell to his ear. It sang, of course ; — and to Miava the murmur appeared to be an incessant repetition of the plaint, " Man shall cease." The shell dropped from his hand. He could no longer question the response. He took a red feather from the image, and held it aloft as he issued from the inner court. The first golden spark of the sun was just rising from the brim of the ocean when he came forth. The king started to his feet. The council all arose, and each man uncovered his head and shoul- ders, in devout expectation. " The war must proceed," said Miava. DAWN ISLAND. 3 J " Oro is with us*?"' inquired the king. "He is not against us, for he has replied," said Miava, mournfully. "A multitude will return home ?" asked the king, struck by his tone. "Many will not return," replied Miava, speaking to the royal ear alone. "All else is made to flourish, but man to war and perish. Forest-; arise, and see how the corals spread ! But man must cease." The king's heart sank as he heard the old pro- phecy, — now confirmed on the threshold of Oro's abode. He looked wistfully in the face of the priest, and walked in silence down to the shore where his canoe led the war-fleet. CHAPTER IV. MORE HUMAN SACRIFICE. The war proceeded. Many indeed of those who went out never returned ; but the destruction of the rebels was the most complete. Except the few who escaped to the recesses of the mountains, and a very few more who got off to sea through a perilous passage in the reef, none survived. Of the first, some soon perished from want, while others became in course of time wild men, forgetting language and such arts of life as they knew, and actually sinking lower than many brutes. Of the fugitives by sea, a small number reached Evening Island, — the only land visible from Dawn Island, and so far distant on the western horizon, that no one thought of reaching it, except in a straggle for life. The lot of the prisoners taken alive was the worst. They saw first the destruction of their forces and their cause. They saw their huts burned — the women DAWN ISLAND. 33 and children slain — their bread-fruit trees felled — the tops of their cocoa-nut trees cut off — total ruin overspreading their settlement. But, more than this, they had eaten their enemies after battle, and they knew that their own time was come. Theirs were not the feelings of disgust with which civilized men regard the act; but rather of a humiliation scarcely to be conceived of by any but a savage ; for civilized men can never be absolute slaves to cir- cumstance and event. They knew the passion of triumphant revenge under which they had swal- lowed the flesh of foes, and the exultation with which they had boasted of sharing with Oro his favourite feast. Now, they were to suffer, not only death by torture, but the contempt and malice of gods and men, — each in solitary despair. The festival was indescribable. To Miava it was as tolerable in aspect as it could be to any one ; for, as he saw in the idol Oro not a hideous image cut in wood, but a chosen form into which the war-god descended at will, so he saw in cannibalism a divine rite permitted to valiant men. The spirits of men were believed to be absorbed or imbibed by the dis- 34 DAWN ISLAND embodied deities, to whom in consequence had ever belonged the title of "Man-eaters." When human sacrifices were offered, there was no doubt in the mind of a believing priest that the spirit of the victim was drawn out and appropriated by the god, as the plantain from its rind, or the milk of the cocoa-nut from the shell ; and, as spirits thus fed upon spirits, it seemed a sharing of the privilege for body to devour body. Thus, even such an one as Miava had calmly taken his share of the feast of victory, and was able to meditate on the act on his way up through the woods to his home. At home, he found a very different kind of enter- tainment going forward. Motuaro was there, pur- suing his courtship of Idya in defiance of personal danger, and of the discouragement of Idya herself, and in neglect of the mother and sister he had left in the wilds. He could not keep out of sight of the poor girl, who wished him far away. He fol- lowed her wherever she went, put jessamine blos- soms in her hair, and declared his love in words of passion ; but the customs of his country and tribe rendered his courtship as laborious and irksome to DAWN ISLAND. 35 Idya, as it was unacceptable for other reasons. He never dreamed of not being waited on and provided for by her, as men always were by women. She had to go down to the shore for shell-fish, and even to cast a net for salmon. The leaves in which his food was to be baked must be plucked by her, the stones heated, the plantains gathered; and she must attend upon him during the meal. They were thus engaged, — Motuaro supping in the middle of the floor of the dwelling, and Idya attending on him, when Miava ajopeared in the door- way. Idya sprang to meet him, telling him what was at the moment uppermost in her mind, — that she had been wishing that he had been home, that she longed to wait on him at his meal. "Yet," he replied, "you cannot long serve me. As Motuaro's wife, you must soon serve him."' Motuaro sprang up in joy at hearing these words. But Idya replied, " No, — I do not wish to be Motuaro's wife. I wish to live as we have lived ; if only Motuaro would not leave his place of safety to follow me, when I do not desire to see him." 36 DAWN ISLAND. "I will find a place of safety for him and you," replied the priest. " I see that he will neither be safe, nor provide for his wants, nor give food to his mother in the mountain, while he follows you in vain. You must be his wife, Idya; — it is best; and you must." Idya made no reply. The tears ran down her face the whole time she continued to serve the meal ; and when it was done, she disappeared. Miava then told the young man of the utter devastation of the other side of the island, and the undisturbed possession he might take of any spot there, while the district was supposed to be haunted by the demons who delight in such places. An incantation, such as Miava could supply, would protect any retreat from these demons ; and a safe and thriving home might thus be secured for the family, in the very midst of a desolation which would forbid the approach of any one else. Miava pro- mised to go himself in search of a place of abode, if the young man would immediately depart to hia retreat in the mountains, and not return till the new- moon, when he should receive his bride. Motuaro, DAWN ISLAM). 37 all joy and thanksgiving, engaged not to molest Idya by his presence before the marriage -day, and forthwith set out for the mountain, without attempt- ing to take leave of the poor girl whom he now considered securely his own. When Idya came, at her guardian's call, to hear the arrangement made, she turned away her face from him, that he might not see in the moonlight the traces of tears. After relating to her the plans laid, Miava told her that she ought to rejoice in a prospect of mar- ried happiness so much more promising than was at all common. Not only did her lover woo her with a passion which was indisputable, but, from their mode of life, it was improbable that he would have more wives, — at least for a long time to come ; and before that time, she might, by devotedness and prudence, have obtained an influence over him which would secure her a considerable amount of dignity and authority in the women's house, who- ever might afterwards be the favourite. Idya could at first only weep : but she soon timidly asked why she must many, when she wished to stay and serve her guardian. 38 DAWN ISLAND. "You are growing old," she said. " If I go, you will grow cold and hungry, more and more ; — and I " " That is the very reason,*' replied the priest. " I could not long give you a home. The cold and weary season of my perishing is at hand ; and the young should be about their business and their pleasures. I had my time of youth and strength. Now my turn with the old men is come; and I must grow more w T eak and poor and comfortless, till I can live no longer. And your turn is come to be the young man's wife." Idya did not dream of disputing this, — so fixed was the idea in all minds that the helpless, whether from age, sickness, or desertion, had arrived at their turn to perish. She therefore offered only a plea for herself. She represented that there might be some time yet before the feebleness of age came on ; that Miava was not imperious and requiring as young men were ; that she was now free from ill-usage and hardship ; and that she had rather not bind herself to such toils and sufferings as a husband would inflict on her. She preferred the kind voice and contented temper of her guardian DAWN ISLAND. 39 to Motuaro's present love ; and if he ceased to love her, he might be very tyrannical. This was true, ]\Iiava admitted : but matters would be made worse by delay. To be a first wife was an opportunity not to be lost ; and she must make no further objection. Idya did make no further objection. At the next new moon, she was married to Motuaro, with such celebrations as the priest's influence could provide, without the affair coming to the knowledge of the king, or other enemies of the bridegroom, and without danger of the young people being tracked to their new and unsuspected home. CHAPTER V. VITAL TRIBUTE. The home of the new-married pair was in a spot which united safety and beauty with healthy influ- ences. Wherever, through the whole circumference of the island, a stream descended along a valley to the shove there was an opening in the reef opposite the mouth of the valley and river, affording access to the open sea just where fresh water was in abun- dance. Where such openings occur may commonly be found islets at the point of the reef, — the soil brought down by the river, and the weed and drift wood washed up by the sea, being accumulated against the barrier, and rising at last to the height of some feet above the water, affording a favourable spot for seeds to germinate, for roots to bind the soil, and at length for trees and shrubs to supply a covert for birds and game. Such an islet was chosen by Miava for the abode of the young people, DAWN ISLAM'. 41 — removed so far from the scene of battle as to be out of sight and reach of its effects, and yet so decidedly in the district of desolation as to be safe from the intrusion of any person on the other side of the island. The little green platform was not more than half a mile round. Three cocoa-nut trees rose in the midst ; and a good deal of shrub- bery afforded fuel at once, and promise of conceal- ment in case of need. In the dead of night, Motuaro ventured to the little cove, near his former home, where his canoe lay, and brought it round in the smooth water. It was not long before Idya had obtained enough of the fibres of the cocoa-nut tree to make nets, where- with she procured fish for their support, Their abode was merely a hut of poles, set up between the three trees, wattled with twigs, thatched with cocoa- nut leaves, and the earthern floor strewn with dry grass. Their only luxuries were the beauties of the air, earth, and sea. These Motuaro continued to enjoy a good deal of; as he did little but bask on the shore, or bathe in the inlet. But_Idya had no time or thought to spare from the busine ss D 42 DAWN ISLAND. living, — poor as was the living obtained by her utmost care and industry. For months after her marriage, she rarely had news of her guardian. He was hardly strong enough now to make so distant an excursion ; — she could not be spared from home ; and she did not dream of asking her husband to take so long a walk to satisfy any anxiety of hers. A season was at length approaching, in the pros- pect of which Idya earnestly desired to see the friend whom she loved best in the world. One evening, her husband found her resting on the ground, — apparently playing with the blossoms of the white convolvulus, which spread over the grass and the coral sands, down to the very edge of the water. Motuaro expected to find her at the oven, baking his supper ; and he was not quite pleased. He asked her what she was thinking of, to be lying there. She replied, as she slowly rose, that she was wondering whether Miava knew that a child would soon be born to her. Her husband asked if she felt afraid of being alone with him. If this had been a fourth child, which was to live, it would be necessarv to have DAWN" ISLAND. 43 some one with them, to take care of it. JUit he knew how to dispose of it, and Idya said it was about that that she wished to see Miava. She supposed, however, that no mother would be right in preserving her first child. " No; nor the second,'* her husband replied. Of course, she could have no time to attend to it, in their present way of life ; — that was what he had to say about it. Miava had other reasons to give, he believed, which would show it to be very irreligious and shocking to preserve a first child. Nobody did it, as she well knew. Idya had lived so much in the woods, alone with her guardian, that she did not know much of what was done in society. She wished she had asked Miava about it ; for, she now would like to hear the reasons why her heart ought not to feel so sad. Motuaro told her that he thought he would go up to the priest's dwelling, this very night. He had a reason. He had found a fine turtle ; and a turtle could not be eaten by am T man without the sanction or participation of a priest. He would try to per- suade Miava to come down, and eat the turtle with 44 DAWN ISLAND. him. She must immediately supply him with food to support him on the way ; and, as soon as he was gone, she must bury the turtle in the sand, to await his return. Idya obeyed with alacrity. She had no interest in the turtle, — no woman being permitted to taste food so much more worthy of men : but she would have undertaken any task for the chance of seeing Miava. She saw him the next evening. When the meal of turtle was finished, and Motuaro dropped asleep, and she stood behind the priest on the moon-lit shore, she spoke with a beating heart the question that lay so heavily there. She supposed that Mot- uaro must destroy their infant, as soon as it should be born. " Certainly," replied Miava. " Can you doubt it Idya was silent. " Motuaro said something to me of your having feelings different from other women," continued the old priest : " and you have lived very much out of their way. But, besides the custom, there are the reasons for the custom." DAWN ISLAND. 45 " What are they*?*' cried Idya eagerly. " Could I not carry my child on my shoulder while I am baking and making cloth, and let it lie in the canoe while I am fishing?" " No," replied Miava. " Motuaro would not like it. But it would also be a disrespect to the gods. The brothers of Oro were bound to celibacy. Their followers were bidden to live and die childless. They could not let their children live. It is neces- sary that some of our children should be reared : but respect for the gods forbids that many should live ; and among these, there must be no first- born.' ' Idya had nothing to say to this. It was some relief to her to hear that there were reasons extend- ing beyond her husband and herself. Looking forward without hope, she felt but little grief at the time. She never heard the cry of her child, and did not know the moment when its new breath was stopped. The first time she raised her head from her mat, Miava showed her the exact place in the earthen floor where the infant had been trodden down, a few inches below the surface. Some fresh 4f» DAWN ISLAND. grass was strewed over it ; and on the precise spot did Motuaro many a day afterwards sit, to take his meals. Miava thought lie perceived that Idya, when she soon arose from her mat in order to bathe, avoided treading on that spot ; and Idya thought she perceived that Miava watched, to see whether she did so or not. She might be right ; for Miava's mind was far from being at rest while haunted by the old pro- phecy. A* lie sat alone in the canoe that evening, apparently enjoying the lulling motion given by the ebb and flow of the waves through the opening in the reef, his meditations were not altogether as serene as his position and the scene before his eves. "The shark is a horrid foe," thought he; " and no year passes but a shriek is heard from the shore, and blood is seen upon the waters, because the shark is there. — The water-spout is very fearful ; and in the stormy months, we know that some canoe or fleet is doomed to be engulphed, and the rowers to be seen no more. — War is more fatal than ten water- spouts or a hundred sharks. — But for ten DAWN ISLAND. 47 warriors there die a hundred infants. Those who are born should be more than those who die ; but if every man has one or two living children, and many more dead, how are our valleys to be peopled again? and will not rather the twenty peopled valleys become two?" He looked up the valley, and marked the clumps and groves that bordered the stream. He then gazed down into the clear depths of the inlet, and sighed forth the too familiar words, " The forest-tree shall grow, — the coral shall spread, — but man shall cease." CHAPTER VI. THE PRIEST AND THE ADVENT. When Idya bathed, she did it with all the energy and enjoyment of the women of her tribe, who, having few other pleasures and much fatigue, revel in this mode of refreshment. It was her delight to dive to the deepest hollow of the white sands, for any tempting object she perceived there; and to swim out through the opening in the reef, to sport with the breakers beyond. — One day, before the old priest had returned to his home, and when he was sleeping away among the shrubs the hottest hour of the day, Idya had thus gone out some way into the open sea, for the pleasure of being brought back by the tide, when, rising from a dive, she saw some- thing more wonderful than all that the coral caves contained. On wakening Miava, and as she stood beside him with dripping hair and her garment hastily DAWN rSIAND. 40 wrapped round her, she told him that she had seen a floating island, carried along by wings. At first / she had thought it a very large bird, sent from the moon ; but on looking again, she doubted about its being alive. As she spoke. Miava looked extremely grave. He observed that there was an old prophecy which his father had desired him never to forget, or permit to be forgotten, — that some day a canoe without an out-rigger- would arrive from another world, and would be the cause of great changes. " But this is not a canoe," objected Idya. "Xot like a canoe a hundred times larger than ours ?" " Xo. And besides, no canoe could hold men, or swim for a moment without an out-rigger." " So said the people to the prophet, at the time. But he launched his wooden dish on a pool, and it floated; and he said it was thus that the great canoe would come." * An out-rigger is an appendage to a single canoe -whereby its balance is preserved, and it is prevented from sinking when loaded. 50 DAWN ISLAND. "Let us climb the tree," said Idya, "and see whether the swimming island is in sight. — ! can- not you climb at all? — I will tell you what I see; but you w T ill not believe me." From the loftiest of the three trees, she saw very well what she wanted. But, after a while, she slid rapidly down the stem, being unable to endure the vision any longer. The vessel was coming nearer and nearer; and she had perceived that there were living and moving beings on board. In silent consternation, she and Miava sat watch- ing just within the verge of the shade. At length, Idya uttered a loud shriek, and even Miava hid his face in the grass for a minute, as an awful spectacle presented itself. A large and strange boat appeared in the opening, and it had no out-rigger ! This boat held ten personages, who were rowing somewhat as men paddle ; but Miava could not think they were men, from their appearance. At all events, they were not inhabitants of the world, as he told Idya, — im- ploring her not to shriek again, but to let the ap- parition pass by. The shriek had, however, been heard. The strange boat did not immediately stop, DAWN ISLAND. 51 but proceeded to the shore ; but one of the rowers pointed out to his comrades something on the islet. Of course, the cowering pair thought they were perceived; and they shook in every fibre of their frames ; but it might be only the roof of the hut, or the cocoa-nuts on the trees that were observed by the stranger. "It is true; — the day is come!" exclaimed the old priest, as soon as he dared speak. " We have seen the out-riggerless canoe ; and these visitors are people from behind the sky." "They have faces," said Idya, whose eyes were better than the old man's. "They have faces; but they are almost as white as the sand ; and in nothing else are they like men. — "What shall we do? Shall we drown ourselves?" "Not yet," said Miava. "We can still do that, if they prove too dreadful. And they may be mes- sengers from the foundation of the world. We must wait." They were nearly sick with waiting and ex- pectation, when Motuaro appeared. He popped up his head from the smooth water, scrambled on 59 DAWN ISLAND. shore, and threw himself down beside the priest and Idya. He had seen them, — seen more of the strangers than any one else yet. He had been fishing, — an exercise which he had had the grace to undertake while his wife was recovering her full strength. He was coining home with a good supply of fish, — sing- ing at tlie top of his voice, and not looking behind him as he paddled, trusting to the accustomed soli- tude of the region, when he heard a shout from the shore. What a sight he beheld! There were several pale man-like beings splashing about in the shallow part of the stream, while two or three were on their knees higher up, drinking greedily. He nibbed his eyes ; but the vision remained ; and the appeal to his ears left no doubt. The strangers beckoned him to approach ; and their gestures were so dis- tinct that he dared not disobey. He slowly paddled towards them ; but his terror was so great when two of the beings ran into the water to meet him, laid white hands on his canoe, and shouted at sight of the fish, that he threw himself over the stern, dived to the lowest depths, swam for home, and left DAWN ISLAND. 53 his property as a sacrifice to the people from behind the sky. These strange people, meantime, when they had satisfied their thirst by bathing and drinking in the stream, looked about for fruit and other fresh food ; but, within the range of their view, all was desolate. Nothing but rank and barren vegetation overspread the scene of the late war. The voyagers turned from the bare stems of the cocoa-nut trees, and the prostrate bread-fruit trunks, and from the naked rafters where fowls had once roosted, to look at the islet whence they had heard the shriek. Presently, their boat was nearing its little beach; and then Miava appeared from the shade, approaching to meet them. Xo other idea had entered his mind than that they were messengers of evil, — all the changes he had known in his life being for the worse. He therefore confronted them first, — partly that he might be their immediate victim, if neces- sary, rather than his young companions ; and partly that he might try the power of spells upon person- ages so strange. When he came near, he found that they were not 54 DAWN ISLAND. all white. One man, though in all other respects like the rest of the party, was of a complexion nearly as brown as Motuaro's. This man not only made signs of amity to the priest, but spoke so that his words were for the most part understood. He said that the white men came from another country, far away. "From another world, — from behind the sky," replied Miava. " Have they a sun ? or do they live in a region of night? They have the skins of those who live in darkness, but they have eyes given them for our sun." " They live in our world, and our sun shines upon them when it leaves us,'* said the interpreter. Miava looked to the east, and from that horizon to Evening Island he gazed slowly round, and shook his head. "There are other islands, besides these two," declared the interpreter. " I come from one fur- ther towards the sunset than yonder island, and yet the sun sets still far to the west. The foundations of the world are further otf than } t ou know of; and these men live between vou and those regions of DAWN ISLAND. 55 night. They not only live in the light of our sun, but they eat food as we do, — hogs, and fowls, and fruit." The Europeans heard the familiar names of these last articles, and, supposing the conference had reached a practical point, now advanced, and hold- ing out some unknown curiosities, repeated the words denoting hogs, fowls, fruit. Miava looked from one to another in bewilder- ment. The sailors were not disposed to wait his time. One threw sticks at the cocoa-nuts on the trees, and brought down ripe and unripe at random. One cut a stalk of sugar-cane, and found it so deli- cious that others joined him. Two caught a hog, and put it into a sack, and then into the boat. They trusted to their commander's paving for what they took; but when he perceived how unused Miava was to barter, how unaware of the value of the articles produced, he stopped the proceedings. First, he caused all the cocoa-nuts to be piled in one heap, and offered, through the interpreter, that Miava should select from his goods what he thought would pay for them. As it now indeed appeared 50 DAWN ISLAND. that the visitors were not messengers of evil, the priest was anxious to relieve his companions from their terror; and Motuaro and Idya came at his cheerful call. Of many articles offered, they could not at once perceive the value ; but there were some which they coveted on the instant, — even before Miava could satisfy himself that they were not unhallowed. Above all, Idya, who spent many a weary hour in kindling and watching the fire of the oven, was struck and charmed by a little box whose contents would make fire in a moment. She considered it worth more than a whole grove of cocoa-nuts. But her husband thought quite as well of a pewter spoon, with which he saw a sailor help- ing himself to the juice out of a sugar-cane. Motu- aro at once saw the use of this, and how it would aid him in his favourite occupation of feeding. The captain accommodated matters by giving the spoon in exchange for the canes. The hog then remained to be paid for. Miava eagerly insisted on the choice of an equi- valent being his : and it was granted on a cry of delight and admiration escaping from one usually DAWN ISLAND. 57 so composed. The captain had observed that the old man's sight had failed a good deal ; and he placed first on his own nose, to show that they were harmless, and then on Miava's, a pair of spectacles. As soon as he could be persuaded to open his eves, how great was his amazement ! He saw distinctly the faces of all around him, and the leaves of dis- tant trees, and the crests of the waves beyond the reef, and the blossoms of plants growing within the wood. He gazed around him, uttering new excla- mations at eveiy discovery of some long-lost object of sight, and then hurried away alone into the shrubbery, in the fear that some accident or quarrel might deprive him of his new treasure. But what he saw during the daylight hours did not affect him nearly so much as the revelations of the night. When Idya had, with a beating heart, lighted a match to kindle the fuel of the oven, and Motuaro had supped, using his spoon for every mouthful, they were glad to sleep after the fatigues of so exciting a day. But the re-awakened sense of the old man would not permit sleep to approach him. As he cast his eyes upwards, trying whether E 58 DAWN ISLAND. he could see anything at midnight, he saw, through a hole in the roof, a shining star. A starry night was one of the fairest pictures in his memory. Now it occurred to him that by this magic power he might enjoy it again. He rose hastily from his mat, and went out, escaping from the canopy of the trees to the open shore. There he remained for the succeeding hours, — hours which made him young again, not only in sensation, but in emotion and thought. " Nothing is settled," thought he, " even to the oldest, to whom the young come as to oraclea News may arrive, even to our latest day ; and what we knew and had forgotten comes again like news. No one could better tell once where particular stars were to be looked for than I; but there had so long been to me only a misty shine in the sky in summer nights that I had almost forgotten the sights that were behind it. And now the little yel- low fires burn clearly, — so many that the gods themselves can hardly count them. What would Teoro think of them ; he who has always been dim- eved ? I will seek him out. and try to make him DAWN ISLAND. 59 see them. But I know something of what he will feel, for I have this day been shown some wonder- ful things, about which I have been dim-eyed from my birth. I thought there had been no men but those like ourselves, all living in the islands of this wide sea ; but I am told, and I must believe it, that very different men live somewhere in the world, — knowing our sun, being able to float and fish in our sea, and to drink water and eat flesh and fruit as we do. They must be men, because they did not draw out and devour our spirits, but chose rather to eat fish and a hog. Yet they must have to do with the gods, because they have magical powers, and can give them to us, — causing fire to come in a moment where there was none before, and making dim eyes old and young by turns. If there are such different kinds of men, how can I tell how many sorts there may be ? And if there should be many kinds, how much longer will it take for man to cease ? At first, before I knew these strangers to be men, I feared that they were sent to bring men to an end quickly ; but now, if the world is so very large, and the same sun shines on so many 00 DAWN ISLAND. tribes, the end must be a good way off. The forest tree may raise its head till it reaches the cloud that hides the mountain- top, — the coral may spread out till it binds together all the islands of the sea, before man ceases altogether. Ah ! but," pondered the old man, sinking from his mood of exultation to despondency, "though this may be true about the race altogether, may not our part of it be near perishing ? Have I not seen it dwindle mournfully in my day? And who knows but these strangers may come to hasten the destruction ! Yet no !" he considered, brightening again. " The strangers who were to arrive in an out-riggerless canoe were to cause remarkable changes ; and it would be no change, but a sad continuation, if men were to dwindle till they cease. These predictions seem to contradict each other, as that about the wonderful canoe contradicted the knowledge of all men. Yet that one became clear. And these may become clear. If these pale strangers should ever appear again, I will ask whether men become fewer in other parts of the great world, and whether their trees grow tall and their corals spread wide. But I can DAWN ISLAM >. 61 think of all this to-morrow ; and to-morrow the stars will not be seen, and no one can look at the sun till evening. Ah ha ! the moon is near the brim of the sea! Can she have waned so much ? She looks as if she had but five nights left; but her light is strong on the waves, and I see them heave and sparkle as I never do when she is roundest. Can she be made young as my eyes are?*' This point might have been settled in a moment by Miava's looking at the vanishing moon under ordinary conditions ; and this, of course, he was well aware of. But it was hard to part with his new enjoyment for a moment ; and while he was considering about it, the moon dropped beneath the waves. CHAPTER VII. A HIGHEB DISCLOSURE. After this night of wondrous enjoyment, misfor- tune was in store for the old man. Having seen some of the beautiful things in which he had once delighted, he had a mind for more. He desired Idya to take him in the canoe to the clearest and smoothest part of the inlet, that he might gaze down, and once more Bee the branching corallines. In the midst of his pleasure, the spectacles fell from his nose into the water, and sank fathoms deep. Miava covered his face with a corner of his garment; for he was sorely grieved. Idya pre- sently leaped into the water, and dived again and again ; but it was some time before she could find the spectacle's ; and when she did, one glass was gone, and the other broken. Idya wept abundantly ; and there were tears on the old man's cheeks as they drew to the shore. DAWN ISLAND. 63 There they found a fearful sort of consolation. The white men were come again; at least, their boat was riding in the cove. Xo one was visible but two men who had been left in charge of the boat, and who had found a pine-apple, a little way off, wmich they were busily eating, — supposing they had the beach all to themselves. Idya made a sign of silence to the priest, pushed her canoe behind some bushes, entered the water again, and swam to the ship's boat, whence she soon returned with a pair of spectacles, a spoon, and a box of matches. Miava stroked her head, in sign of approbation of >. her skill, and, drawing back a good way from the water, put on his new spectacles. But where was the beneficent power gone ? All objects were dim and confused, — worse than when he used only his own eyes. He could not recover from his mortification and perplexity, — with which was mingled a fear of the displeasure of the god to whom he ought to have promised an offering before Idya did the deed, — Hiro, the god of thieves. The Europeans landed, wholly unaware of the 04 DAWN ISLAND. loss of their property. They came prepared for barter on a somewhat larger scale, as well as to fill their water-casks from the springs on the shore. The captain was surprised at the depression of the old man, whom he had seen so dignified and self- possessed the day before; but Motuaro, who pre- sented himself in a trice, was as energetic a cus- tomer as could be desired. The difficulty was that the islanders had scarcely any thing to exchange for the many articles they wished to have. The captain first, to their great joy, offered to pay them for the fish the sailors had taken the day before. For this, he gave Idya a piece of cloth which looked to her very curious and pretty. She wrapped it round her, and found it much lighter and easier than that which she herself had, with hard and protracted toil, beaten out of the fibres of trees. Motuaro saw at once the use of an axe, for which he gave a hog, — his last hog, — saying to himself that Idya must catch more fish, and he would try and find turtle. There were knives and scissors ; and the young people saw 7 how useful such things might be made ; but they had nothing to give for them. DAWN ISLAND. <> : > They promised to collect fruits and fowls, and to make some mats, if allowed a few days ; but in their own minds they resolved to take what they wanted, in some sly way, from the boat. When the whites were about to depart, Miava roused himself to use his present opportunity, and, approaching the interpreter, begged him to win over the captain to put the magic again into his spec- tacles, that he might once more see beautiful things with them. The captain examined the spectacles, consulted with one of the sailors, and then bade the interpre- ter ask Miava how long he could see beautiful things with that instrument. He told eloquently what he had beheld yesterday and during the night, add- ing that he had lost his treasure in the sea this morning, and Idya had gone to the bottom to re- cover it. " The lie and the theft may be the woman's," observed the captain to his men. " These are Dr. Symons's spectacles, — unfit for old eyes. He must have them back, of course ; and we must come to an 66 DAWN ISLAND. understanding with these people. Get the old man to sit down, Turoa," he added to the interpreter, " and be sure you make him understand what I say." The captain and Miava sat down opposite to one another on the grass, and the interpreter stood beside them, — the sailors being ordered to fall back out of hearing, and look well to the goods and the boat. "You are a priest, Turoa tells Die,'* the captain began; "and therefore you must be thought wiser than your neighbours." Miava looked grave, and said that messengers came and went between the gods and the priests. "And do not the gods permit men to make themselves comfortable by exchanging things with one another, as we have been doing to-day V" "We grow fruit, and rear fowls and hogs, and catch fish, each for ourselves," replied Miava, " and when we send out warriors to plunder from our enemies, and bring home wealth, the god Hiro goes with them, — if we, the priests, can induce him." DAWN ISLAND. 67 " And then some of the wealth is brought to the priests ?" "Certainly. They have toil in praying and watching." " And what does Hiro say when you take plunder from one another ?" Miava looked shocked, and said that was a crime for which men and women were sometimes pun- ished with death. Against such, guard was kept. Large pieces of cloth were drawn up to the roof, where thieves could not get them ; and small ones were laid beside the pillow every night; and the fowls and hogs were housed within the dwellings; and every body was against thieves, and they were always punished, when they could be caught. " And if a pair of spectacles, like those, were stolen from my boat, would the thief be put to death ?" " Certainly not," replied Miava. " They would be taken from strangers; and there is no harm in that." "The old fellow is in earnest," observed the cap- tain, aside to a comrade: "but I must make him a little wiser, priest as he is. — Did your young 08 DAWN ISLAND. friend there find his canoe safe, after we were gone yesterday ?" he inquired of Miava. "Yes." "And is he satisfied with what my men gave him for his fish ?" "Ask him." "Why do you suppose we did not take the canoe and the fish without troubling ourselves to give any thing in return? We are strong men, — strong enough to carry away by force all that we wish for from this island." " There are many warriors on the other side," declared Miava. "Yes; but warriors cannot stand against thun- derbolts ; and we can blow thunder and lightning upon your people till they lie dead upon the ground, thicker than the skeletons we saw heaped together yonder." "And," interposed Turoa, "they arc struck dead by these thunderbolts before they have time to throw a spear. And, besides, the whites can do this from such a distance that no spear can reach them." DAWN ISLAND. 69 " Is this true ?" asked Miava, bewildered. " Quite true," said the captain : "but we do not wish to blow our thunder here, — unless you would like to see it." Miava was quite satisfied with hearing of it. "Well; why do you suppose we do not take all you have by force ?" " We might hide our things, and go away into the mountains in the night. " " Just so. We should not get what we want if we frightened you away, and spoiled your property. We wish to be friends with you ; and for several reasons. We like to see people look cheerful and glad when we come among them. We like to sup- ply you with things which make you comfortable and pleased ; and we like to be able to come to your island, and get fresh water when we are thirsty, without putting any body into a fright, or having to hurt any one. But if you hurt us, we shall be angry perhaps ; and if not, we must go and give our useful and wonderful things to some other people.'' " We cannot hurt people who blow thunderbolts," humbly observed Miava.