the nuts becomes quite dry and hard, and
assumes a beautiful carnation tint; and when opened they are found to
be about two-thirds full of an ointment of a light yellow colour and
diffusing the sweetest perfume. This elegant little odorous globe would
not be out of place even upon the toilette of a queen. Its merits as a
preparation for the hair are undeniable--it imparts to it a superb gloss
and a silky fineness.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

APPREHENSIONS OF EVIL--FRIGHTFUL DISCOVERY--SOME REMARKS
ON CANNIBALISM--SECOND BATTLE WITH THE HAPPARS--SAVAGE
SPECTACLE--MYSTERIOUS FEAST--SUBSEQUENT DISCLOSURES

FROM the time of my casual encounter with Karky the artist, my life was
one of absolute wretchedness. Not a day passed but I was persecuted by
the solicitations of some of the natives to subject myself to the odious
operation of tattooing. Their importunities drove me half wild, for I
felt how easily they might work their will upon me regarding this or
anything else which they took into their heads. Still, however, the
behaviour of the islanders towards me was as kind as ever. Fayaway was
quite as engaging; Kory-Kory as devoted; and Mehevi the king just as
gracious and condescending as before. But I had now been three months in
their valley, as nearly as I could estimate; I had grown familiar with
the narrow limits to which my wandering had been confined; and I began
bitterly to feel the state of captivity in which I was held. There
was no one with whom I could freely converse; no one to whom I could
communicate my thoughts; no one who could sympathize with my sufferings.
A thousand times I thought how much more endurable would have been my
lot had Toby still been with me. But I was left alone, and the thought
was terrible to me. Still, despite my griefs, I did all in my power
to appear composed and cheerful, well knowing that by manifesting any
uneasiness, or any desire to escape, I should only frustrate my object.

It was during the period I was in this unhappy frame of mind that the
painful malady under which I had been labouring--after having almost
completely subsided--began again to show itself, and with symptoms as
violent as ever. This added calamity nearly unmanned me; the recurrence
of the complaint proved that without powerful remedial applications
all hope of cure was futile; and when I reflected that just beyond the
elevations, which bound me in, was the medical relief I needed, and that
although so near,