er may form some idea of our feelings
when we were informed that Hussey was to be taken by his master and
family, to a distant part of the Island! Not having as yet become
sufficiently acquainted with their language, we were unable to
comprehend the distance from our present location.
It now becomes expedient to present the reader with our _separate
accounts_, in which we hope to be able to convey an idea of the
manners and customs of these people. We had experienced in a very
short time so many vicissitudes, and passed through so many scenes of
distress, that no opportunity was afforded to keep a journal, and
notwithstanding we had even lost the day of the week and month, yet
with such force, were the principal incidents which occurred during
our exile, impressed upon our minds, that we can with confidence
proceed with our narrative, and will commence the next chapter with an
account of the adventures of _William Lay_.
CHAPTER V.
Early in the morning of the day on which Hussey left me, preparations
were made for his embarkation with his _new_ master and family. We
were allowed a short interview, and after taking an affectionate leave
of each other, we parted with heavy hearts. The tender ties which
bound me to my companion in misfortune, seemed now about to be forever
broken asunder. No features to gaze upon, but those of my savage
masters, and no one with whom I could hold converse, my heart seemed
bursting with grief at my lonely situation.--On the departure of my
companion, the "star of hope" which had often gleamed brightly mid the
night of our miseries, seemed now about to set forever! After watching
the canoe which bore him from me, until she was hid from my view in
the distance, I returned to the hut with my master, and as I had eaten
but little during the day, the calls of nature induced me to broil my
last morsel of meat, with which, and some bread, I made a tolerable
supper. The natives began to be very fond of the bread, and eat of it
as long as it lasted, which unfortunately for me, was but a short
time.
I informed my master that I should like to have some more of the meat
from the place where the ship had lain. On the following morning, my
master, mistress, and four or five others embarked in a canoe, to
assist me in procuring some provisions. Observing that they carried
with them a number of clubs, and each a spear, I was apprehensive of
some design upon my own person; but happily, was so
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