e interval, turned around the corner of
the pi-pi, and, under the guidance of the venerable Marheyo, was soon out
of sight. His departure oppressed me with melancholy, and, re-entering the
dwelling, I threw myself almost in despair upon the matting of the floor.

In two hours' time the old warrior returned, and gave me to understand,
that after accompanying my companion a little distance, and showing him
the route, he had left him journeying on his way.

It was about noon of this same day, a season which these people are wont
to pass in sleep, that I lay in the house, surrounded by its slumbering
inmates, and painfully affected by the strange silence which prevailed.
All at once I thought I heard a faint shout, as if proceeding from some
persons in the depth of the grove which extended in front of our
habitation.

The sounds grew louder and nearer, and gradually the whole valley rang
with wild outcries. The sleepers around me started to their feet in alarm,
and hurried outside to discover the cause of the commotion. Kory-Kory, who
had been the first to spring up, soon returned almost breathless, and
nearly frantic with the excitement under which he seemed to be labouring.
All that I could understand from him was, that some accident had happened
to Toby. Apprehensive of some dreadful calamity, I rushed out of the
house, and caught sight of a tumultuous crowd, who, with shrieks and
lamentations, were just emerging from the grove, bearing in their arms
some object, the sight of which produced all this transport of sorrow. As
they drew near, the men redoubled their cries, while the girls, tossing
their bare arms in the air, exclaimed plaintively, "Awha! awha! Toby
muckee moee!"--Alas! alas! Toby is killed!

In a moment the crowd opened, and disclosed the apparently lifeless body
of my companion borne between two men, the head hanging heavily against
the breast of the foremost. The whole face, neck, and bosom were covered
with blood, which still trickled slowly from a wound behind the temple. In
the midst of the greatest uproar and confusion, the body was carried into
the house and laid on a mat. Waving the natives off to give room and air,
I bent eagerly over Toby, and, laying my hand upon the breast, ascertained
that the heart still beat. Overjoyed at this, I seized a calabash of
water, and dashed its contents upon his face, then, wiping away the blood,
anxiously examined the wound. It was about three inches long, and, o