hearts upon us. We were given to understand, that now our doom
was fixed; that we should remain with them, and die the victims of our
tormentors! Alas! it was but too true, that such was to be the fate of
all but two of our number! We were destined to see one after another of
our fellow-sufferers sink under the constantly increasing severity of
the burdens imposed upon them, and perish either from actual starvation,
or by the blows of the savages.

After the departure of the captain and Rollins, we were treated with
much greater severity than we had been before. Generally we were aroused
from our broken slumbers about sunrise, and compelled to go to work; we
were usually employed in cultivating a species of vegetable somewhat
resembling the yam, and called by them "_korei_." This root is raised in
beds of mud, which are prepared by digging out the sand, and filling the
place with mould. The whole of this labor was performed with the hands.
We were compelled day after day to stand in the mud from morning till
night, and to turn up the mud with our hands. Frequently we were
required to do this without receiving a morsel of food till about noon,
and sometimes we were left without any thing to eat till night. At best
we could get no more than a small piece of cocoa-nut, hardly a common
sized mouthful, at a time, and if, either from exhaustion or any other
cause, we neglected to perform the required amount of labor, our
pittance of food was withheld altogether.

From this plain and unexaggerated account it will be seen, that our
condition at best was bad enough; but a misfortune befell us which
rendered it still worse. About four months from the time of our landing
on that dreary spot, there was a violent storm, which came very near
sweeping away the whole of the means of support which remained for the
miserable inhabitants. The wind blew down many of the best cocoa trees,
and materially injured the fruit on such as were left standing. Besides
this, the low places in which they raised the root, by them called
"_korei_," were mostly filled with sand, and famine stared us all in the
face.

They attributed this misfortune to the anger of their god, and did not
fail to use such means as they thought best calculated to appease him;
and the calamity greatly added to our sufferings. Besides subjecting us
to still more severe deprivations, we were compelled (though hardly able
to drag our limbs from place to place) to labor in re