y kindly,
and we sat down to a supper consisting of fish, and various roots, and
other vegetables and fruits.

I had till now been under the dreadful impression that the people were
cannibals; but there was nothing in the repast set before me which made
me unwilling to partake of it. On the contrary, as I was very hungry, I
set to with a will, and the people standing round seemed pleased at
seeing me eat with so good an appetite.

Several days passed by; the chief and his wife seemed to consider that I
had taken the place of their lost child, and treated me as such with
much kindness. I had, however, neither seen nor heard anything of Dick,
and I gave Motakee to understand that I wished to go out and look for
him, to which he, by signs, replied that it would be dangerous for me to
wander about by myself, as the people of other tribes might kill me, and
that I must remain quietly where I was.

I remembered Dick's plan of keeping time when we were in our solitary
island, and I cut a stick, on which I marked the days of the week. I
did not forget either his parting advice to me, and every night and
morning I knelt down and said my prayers. The natives understood what I
was about, and never interrupted me, and treated me with more respect
than even some of the men did on board the _Dolphin_.

At the end of a couple of months I saw that something unusual was taking
place in the village. The men were polishing up their arms, and the
women were engaged in making baskets and cooking provisions. This led
me to suppose that an expedition of some sort was about to take place.

Motakee called me to him one day, and told me by signs that he was going
away, and that he would place me under charge of some one who would take
good care of me during his absence. I told him that I should be very
sorry to be parted from him, and asked him to let me go, hoping that by
some means I might hear of Dick. He shook his head, and told me that as
danger would have to be encountered, I was too young as yet, but that
when I grew older, he would teach me the use of the native weapons, and
allow me to accompany him to war. He then led me to another house,
somewhat smaller than his own, in which the principal inmate was an old
woman. Though Moola--that was her name--was very old and dry and
withered, from the expression of her countenance and the way in which he
treated her, I was led to suppose that she was Motakee's mother. Such,
indee