mbling with offerings of food, and
poured out drink-offerings of _'ava_ to _Le Sa_, to propitiate his
favour.

A story is told of a woman and her child, who in a time of great
scarcity were neglected by the family. One day they cooked some wild
yams, but never offered her a share. She was vexed, asked the child to
follow her, and when they reached a precipice on the rocky coast,
seized the child and jumped over. It is said they were changed into
turtles, and afterwards came in that form at the call of the people of
the village.

_Cannibalism._--During some of their wars, a body was occasionally
cooked by the Samoans; but they affirm that, in such a case, it was
always some one of the enemy who had been notorious for provocation or
cruelty, and that eating a part of his body was considered the climax
of hatred and revenge, and was not occasioned by the mere relish for
human flesh, such as obtained in the Fiji, New Hebrides, and New
Caledonian groups. In more remote heathen times, however, they may
have indulged this savage appetite. To speak of roasting him is the
very worst language that can be addressed to a Samoan. If applied to a
chief of importance, he may raise war to avenge the insult. It is the
custom on the submission of one party to another to bow down before
their conquerors each with a piece of firewood and a bundle of leaves,
such as are used in dressing a pig for the oven; as much as to say,
"Kill us and cook us, if you please." Criminals, too, are sometimes
bound hand to hand and foot to foot; slung on a pole put through
between the hands and feet, carried and laid down before the parties
they have injured, like a pig about to be killed and cooked. So deeply
humiliating is this act considered that the culprit who consents to
degrade himself so far is almost sure to be forgiven.

From such references to cannibalism as we have at pp. 47, 48, and also
the following fragments from old stories, it is further apparent that
the custom was not unknown in Samoa.

During a great scarcity occasioned by a gale cannibalism prevailed.
When a light was wanted in the evening, two or three went to fetch
it--it was not safe for one to go alone. If a child was seen out of
doors, some one would entice it by holding up something white and
calling the child to get a bit of cocoa-nut kernel, and so kidnap and
cook.

A story is also told of a woman who had a child who was playing on the
surf on the beach. Three of her brot