1774*
A ugust. and at laft made figns that we fhould be killed and eaten.
The fame geftures, though much lefs intelligible, had been
made to us two days before, but we had paid very little attention
tothem, unwilling, upon fuch flight teftimony, to
fuppofe that they had any idea of anthropophagy. However,
at prefent we could no longer be miftaken ; for, having
pretended to mifunderftand them, and making them
believe that we thought they offered us fome provifions, we
began to move forward, and ex prefled that we fhould be
glad to eat fomething. They were very eager to undeceive
us, and fhowed, by figns, how they killed a man, cut his
limbs afunder, and feparated the flefh from the bones.
Laftly, they bit their own arms, to exprefs more clearly that
they eat human flefh. We turned from the point, but
walked towards a hut which we obferved about fifty yards
from it, where the ground began to rife. Here feveral of
them, feeing, us advance, took up arms out of the hut,
perhaps to force us to return. It was not our wifh to offend
thefe people in their own country, and therefore we
checked a fpirit of curiofity, which might have proved fatal
to fome of them, i f they had obliged us to defend our
lives. The motives for purfuing our difcoveries on this
point were not, however, of a trifling nature. Every morning,
at day-break, we heard a flow folemn fong or dirge
fung on this point, which lafted more than a quarter of an
hour. It feemed to be a religious aft, and gave us great
reafon
reafon to fufpeft that fome place of worfhip was concealed
in thefe groves, and the conftant endeavours of the natives
to keep us from this place, greatly confirmed us in this
fuppofitjon. Having walked back a little way, we refolved
to get upon the flat hill in a place where the afcent was1
eafy, and where, being very near the point, we hoped to be
able to make fome obfervations. When we had reached the
top, which was about thirty-five or forty feet perpendicular
in height, we found ourfelves in a fpacious plantation,
chiefly confifting of innumerable banana-trees. We found ;
it interfperfed with coco-palms and other tall and tufted
trees, which entirely impeded the profpeft on all fides, and
feparated from other plantations by various fences of reeds,
very neatly made, much refembling thofe of Tonga-Tabboo >
and Namoka. Here the natives began to repeat their
threats, and, if poflible, made it more plain to us than
before, that we fhould be killed and eaten if we went on.
We told them we only wifhed to fhoot fome birds, but they
did not feem to pay much attention to this excufe, and I
know not whether we fhould have made any difcoveries this
afternoon, if the little friendly old man, Paw-yangom, had'
not luckily met us. We exprefled reciprocal joy on finding
each other, and the old man immediately condufted us .
along the edge of the hill towards its weflern extremity..
Here we faw great numbers of fig-trees, which the. natives .
cultivate for the fake of the fruit and the leaves. They are
, of;
>774.
A u g u s t .