The sound of the drums continued without intermission the whole day,
and falling continually upon my ear, caused me a sensation of horror
which I am unable to describe. On the following day, hearing none of
those noisy indications of revelry, I concluded that the inhuman feast
was terminated, and feeling a kind of morbid curiosity to discover
whether the Ti might furnish any evidence of what had taken place
there, I proposed to Kory-Kory to walk there. To this proposition he
replied by pointing with his finger to the newly-risen sun, and then up
to the zenith, intimating that our visit must be deferred until noon.
Shortly after that hour we accordingly proceeded to the Taboo Groves,
and as soon as we entered their precincts, I looked fearfully round in
quest of some memorial of the scene which had so lately been acted
there; but everything appeared as usual. On reaching the Ti, we found
Mehevi and a few chiefs reclining on the mats, who gave me as friendly
a reception as ever. No allusions of any kind were made by them to the
recent events; and I refrained, for obvious reasons, from referring to
them myself.
After staying a short time, I took my leave. In passing along the
piazza, previously to descending from the pi-pi, I observed a curiously
carved vessel of wood, of considerable size, with a cover placed over
it, of the same material, and which resembled in shape a small canoe.
It was surrounded by a low railing of bamboos, the top of which was
scarcely a foot from the ground. As the vessel had been placed in its
present position since my last visit, I at once concluded that it must
have some connexion with the recent festival; and, prompted by a
curiosity I could not repress, in passing it I raised one end of the
cover; at the same moment the chiefs, perceiving my design, loudly
ejaculated, “Taboo! taboo!” But the slight glimpse sufficed; my eyes
fell upon the disordered members of a human skeleton, the bones still
fresh with moisture, and with particles of flesh clinging to them here
and there!
Kory-Kory, who had been a little in advance of me, attracted by the
exclamations of the chiefs, turned round in time to witness the
expression of horror on my countenance. He now hurried towards me,
pointing at the same time to the canoe, and exclaiming, rapidly,
“Puarkee! puarkee!” (Pig, pig.) I pretended to yield to the deception,
and repeated the words after him several times, as though acquiescing
in what he said. The other savages, either deceived by my conduct, or
unwilling to manifest their displeasure at what could not now be
remedied, took no further notice of the occurrence, and I immediately
left the Ti.
All that night I lay awake, revolving in my mind the fearful situation
in which I was placed. The last horrid revelation had now been made,
and the full sense of my condition rushed upon my mind with a force I
had never before experienced.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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