ommiseration for my lameness, but seemed only
anxious to hurry me on, walked away from the place. As I passed through
the noisy throng, which by this time completely environed the Ti, I looked
with fearful curiosity at the three packages, which now were deposited
upon the ground; but although I had no doubt as to their contents, still
their thick coverings prevented my actually detecting the form of a human
body.

The next morning, shortly after sunrise, the same thundering sounds which
had awakened me from sleep on the second day of the Feast of Calabashes,
assured me that the savages were on the eve of celebrating another, and,
as I fully believed, a horrible solemnity.

All the inmates of the house, with the exception of Marheyo, his son, and
Tinor, after assuming their gala dresses, departed in the direction of the
Taboo Groves.

Although I did not anticipate a compliance with my request, still, with a
view of testing the truth of my suspicions, I proposed to Kory-Kory that,
according to our usual custom in the morning, we should take a stroll to
the Ti: he positively refused; and when I renewed the request, he evinced
his determination to prevent my going there; and, to divert my mind from
the subject, he offered to accompany me to the stream. We accordingly
went, and bathed. On our coming back to the house, I was surprised to find
that all its inmates had returned, and were lounging upon the mats as
usual, although the drums still sounded from the groves.

The rest of the day I spent with Kory-Kory and Fayaway, wandering about a
part of the valley situated in an opposite direction from the Ti, and
whenever I so much as looked towards that building, although it was hidden
from view by intervening trees, and at the distance of more than a mile,
my attendant would exclaim, "Taboo, taboo!"

At the various houses where we stopped, I found many of the inhabitants
reclining at their ease, or pursuing some light occupation, as if nothing
unusual were going forward; but amongst them all I did not perceive a
single chief or warrior. When I asked several of the people why they were
not at the "Hoolah Hoolah" (the feast), they uniformly answered the
question in a manner which implied that it was not intended for them, but
for Mehevi, Narmonee, Mow-Mow, Kolor, Womonoo, Kalow, running over, in
their desire to make me comprehend their meaning, the names of all the
principal chiefs.

Everything, in short, strengthened my su