now near it: a hot fetid steam kept occasionally
bursting from the smothered mass ;
and the same dog we had seen with the
head, now crept from beneath the bushes,
and sneaked towards the village : to add to
the gloominess of the whole, a large hawk
rose heavily from the very spot where the
poor victim had been cut in pieces. My
friend and I sat gazing on this melancholy
place ; it was a lowering gusty day, and the
moaning of the wind through the bushes, as
it swept round the hill on which we were,
seemed in unison with our feelings.
After some time spent in contemplating
the miserable scene before us, during which
we gave full vent to the most passionate exclamations
of disgust, we determined to spoil
this intended feast: this resolution formed,
we rose to execute it. I ran off to our
beach, leaving Duke on guard, and, collecting
all the white men I could, I informed
them of what had happened, and asked them
if they would assist in destroying the oven,
and burying the remains of the girl : they
consented, and each having provided himself
with a shovel or a pickaxe, we repaired in a
body to the spot. Atoi and his friends had
by some means been informed of our intention,
and they came out to prevent it. He
used various threats to deter us, and seemed
highly indignant; but as none of his followers
appeared willing to come to blows, and
seemed ashamed that such a transaction
should have been discovered by us, we were
permitted by them to do as we chose. We
accordingly dug a tolerably deep grave; then
we resolutely attacked the oven. On removing
the earth and leaves, the shocking spectacle
was presented to our view,—the four
quarters of a human body half roasted.
During our work clouds of steam enveloped
us, and the disgust created by our task was
almost overpowering. We collected all the
parts we could recognise; the heart was
placed separately, we supposed, as a savoury
morsel for the chief himself. We placed the
whole in the grave, which we filled up as
well as we could, and then broke and scattered
the oven.
By this time the natives from both villages
i 4