Such was Toby's account of this sad affair. I afterwards learned that
fortunately he had fallen close to a spot where the natives go for fuel. A
party of them caught sight of him as he fell, and, sounding the alarm, had
lifted him up; and after ineffectually endeavouring to restore him at the
brook, had hurried forward with him to the house.

This incident threw a dark cloud over our prospects. It reminded us that
we were hemmed in by hostile tribes, whose territories we could not hope
to pass, on our route to Nukuheva, without encountering the effects of
their savage resentment. There appeared to be no avenue opened to our
escape but the sea, which washed the lower extremity of the vale.

Our Typee friends availed themselves of the recent disaster of Toby to
exhort us to a due appreciation of the blessings we enjoyed among them;
contrasting their own generous reception of us with the animosity of their
neighbours. They likewise dwelt upon the cannibal propensities of the
Happars, a subject which they were perfectly aware could not fail to alarm
us; while at the same time they earnestly disclaimed all participation in
so horrid a custom. Nor did they omit to call upon us to admire the
natural loveliness of their own abode, and the lavish abundance with which
it produced all manner of luxuriant fruits; exalting it in this particular
above any of the surrounding valleys.

Kory-Kory seemed to experience so heartfelt a desire to infuse into our
minds proper views on these subjects, that, assisted in his endeavours by
the little knowledge of the language we had acquired, he actually made us
comprehend a considerable part of what he said. To facilitate our correct
apprehension of his meaning, he at first condensed his ideas into the
smallest possible compass.

"Happar keekeeno nuee," he exclaimed; "nuee, nuee, ki ki kannaka!--ah! owle
motarkee!" which signifies, "Terrible fellows those Happars!--devour an
amazing quantity of men!--ah, shocking bad!" Thus far he explained himself
by a variety of gestures, during the performance of which he would dart
out of the house, and point abhorrently towards the Happar valley; running
in to us again with the rapidity that showed he was fearful we would lose
one part of his meaning before he could complete the other; and continuing
his illustrations by seizing the fleshy part of my arm in his teeth,
intimating, by the operation, that the people who lived over in that
direction would