f with much
curiosity, accompanied by Tomeo and Buttchee: Zeppa and his son, with
Ebony and the pirate, being still in the mountains.

Ongoloo led them to the top of a small hill on which a sacred hut or
temple stood. Here the prisoners of war used to be slaughtered, and
here the orgies of heathen worship were wont to be practised. An
immense crowd of natives--indeed the entire tribe except the sick and
infirm--crowned the hill. This, however, was no new sight to the
missionary, and conveyed no hint of what was pending.

The crowd stood in two orderly circles--the inner one consisting of the
warriors, the outer of the women and children. Both fell back to let
the chief and his party pass.

As the temple-hut was open at one side, its interior, with the horrible
instruments of execution and torture, as well as skulls, bones, and
other ghastly evidences of former murder, was exposed to view. On the
centre of the floor lay a little pile of rudely carved pieces of timber,
with some loose cocoa-nut fibre beneath them. A small fire burned on
something that resembled an altar in front of the hut.

The chief, standing close to this fire, cleared his throat and began an
address with the words, "Men, warriors, women and children, listen!"
And they did listen with such rapt attention that it seemed as if not
only ears, but eyes, mouths, limbs, and muscles were engaged in the
listening act, for this mode of address--condescending as it did to
women and children--was quite new to them, and portended something
unusual.

"Since these men came here," continued the chief, pointing to Waroonga
and his friends, "we have heard many wonderful things that have made us
think. Before they came we heard some of the same wonderful things from
the great white man, whose head is light but whose heart is wise and
good. I have made up my mind, now, to become a Christian. My warriors,
my women, my children need not be told what that is. They have all got
ears and have heard. I have assembled you here to see my gods burned
(he pointed to the pile in the temple), and I ask all who are willing,
to join me in making this fire a big one. I cannot compel your souls.
I _could_ compel your bodies, but I _will_ not!"

He looked round very fiercely as he said this, as though he still had
half a mind to kill one or two men to prove his point, and those who
stood nearest to him moved uneasily, as though they more than half
expected him to do so