have at least a week's supply in case of siege, we went on deck

and debated what we should do. In the end we determined to stop
where we were and await events, because, as I pointed out, it was

necessary that we should discover whether these natives were
hostile or friendly. In the former event we could hold our own on

the ship, whereas away from it we must be overwhelmed; in the
latter there was always time to move inland.

About ten o'clock when we were seated on stools smoking, with
our guns by our side--for here, owing to the overhanging cliff in

which it will be remembered the prow of the ship was buried, we
could not be reached by missiles thrown from above--we saw

numbers of the islanders advancing upon us along the beach on
either side. They were preceded as before by women who bore food

on platters and in baskets. These people, all talking excitedly
and laughing after their fashion, stopped at a distance, so we

took no notice of them. Presently Marama, clad in his feather
cloak, and again accompanied by priests or medicine-men, appeared

walking down the path on the cliff face, and, standing below,
made salutations and entered into a conversation with us of which

I give the substance--that is, so far as we could understand it.
He reproached us for not having come to him as he expected we

would do. We replied that we preferred to remain where we were
until we were sure of our greeting and asked him what was the

position. He explained that only once before, in the time of his
grandfather, had any people reached their shores, also during a

great storm as we had done. They were dark-skinned men like
themselves, three of them, but whence they came was never known,

since they were at once seized and sacrificed to the god Oro,
which was the right thing to do in such a case.

We asked whether he would consider it right to sacrifice us. He
replied:

Certainly, unless we were too strong, being gods ourselves, or
unless an arrangement could be concluded. We asked--what

arrangement? He replied that we must make them gifts; also that
we must do what we had promised and cure him--the chief--of the

disease which had tormented him for years. In that event
everything would be at our disposal and we, with all our

belongings, should become taboo, holy, not to be touched. None
would attempt to harm us, nothing should be stolen under penalty

of death.
We asked him to come up on the deck with only one companion

that his sickness might be ascertained, and after much hesitation
he consented to do so. Bickley made an examination of the growth

and announced that he believed it could be removed with perfect
safety as the attachment to the neck was very slight, but of

course there was always a risk. This was explained to him with
difficulty, and much talk followed between him and his followers

who gathered on the beach beneath the ship. They seemed adverse
to the experiment, till Mamma grew furious with them and at last

burst into tears saying that he could no longer drag this
terrible burden about with him, and he touched the growth. He

would rather die. Then they gave way.
I will tell the rest as shortly as I can.

A hideouswooden idol was brought on board, wrapped in leaves
and feathers, and upon it the chief and his head people swore

safety to us whether he lived or died, making us the guests of
their land. There were, however, two provisos made, or as such we

understood them. These seemed to be that we should offer no
insult or injury to their god, and secondly, that we should not

set foot on the island in the lake. It was not till afterwards
that it occurred to me that this must refer to the mountain top

which appeared in the inland sheet of water. To those
stipulations we made no answer. Indeed, the Orofenans did all the

talking. Finally, they ratified their oaths by a man who, I
suppose, was a head priest, cutting his arm and rubbing the blood

from it on the lips of the idol; also upon those of the chief. I
should add that Bastin had retired as soon as he saw that false

god appear, of which I was glad, since I felt sure that he would
make a scene.

The operation took place that afternoon and on the ship, for
when once Marama had made up his mind to trust us he did so very

thoroughly. It was performed on deck in the presence of an awed
multitude who watched from the shore, and when they saw Bickley

appear in a clean nightshirt and wash his hands, uttered a groan
of wonder. Evidently they considered it a magical and religious

ceremony; indeed ever afterwards they called Bickley the Great
Priest, or sometimes the Great Healer in later days. This was a

grievance to Bastin who considered that he had been robbed of his
proper title, especially when he learned that among themselves he

was only known as "the Bellower," because of the loud voice in
which he addressed them. Nor did Bickley particularly appreciate

the compliment.
With my help he administered the chloroform, which was done

under shelter of a sail for fear lest the people should think
that we were smothering their chief. Then the operation went on

to a satisfactoryconclusion. I omit the details, but an electric
battery and a red-hot wire came into play.

"There," said Bickley triumphantly when he had finished tying
the vessels and made everything neat and tidy with bandages, "I

was afraid he might bleed to death, but I don't think there is
any fear of that now, for I have made a real job of it." Then

advancing with the horrid tumour in his hands he showed it in
triumph to the crowd beneath, who groaned again and threw

themselves on to their faces. Doubtless now it is the most sacred
relic of Orofena.

When Marama came out of the anesthetic, Bickley gave him
something which sent him to sleep for twelve hours, during all

which time his people waited beneath. This was our dangerous
period, for our difficulty was to persuade them that he was not

dead, although Bickley had assured them that he would sleep for a
time while the magic worked. Still, I was very glad when he woke

up on the following morning, and two or three of his leading men
could see that he was alive. The rest was lengthy but simple,

consisting merely in keeping him quiet and on a suitable diet
until there was no fear of the wound opening. We achieved it

somehow with the help of an intelligent native woman who, I
suppose, was one of his wives, and five days later were enabled

to present him healed, though rather tottery, to his affectionate
subjects.

It was a great scene, which may be imagined. They bore him away
in a litter with the native woman to watch him and another to

carry the relic preserved in a basket, and us they acclaimed as
gods. Thenceforward we had nothing to fear in Orofena--except

Bastin, though this we did not know at the time.
All this while we had been living on our ship and growing very

bored there, although we employed the empty hours in conversation
with selected natives, thereby improving our knowledge of the

language. Bickley had the best of it, since already patients
began to arrive which occupied him. One of the first was that man

whom Tommy had bitten. He was carried to us in an almost comatose
state, sufferingapparently from the symptoms of snake poisoning.

Afterward it turned out that he conceived Tommy to be a divine
but most venomouslizard that could make a very horrible noise,

and began to suffer as one might do from the bite of such a
creature. Nothing that Bickley could do was enough to save him

and ultimately he died in convulsions, a circumstance that
enormously enhanced Tommy's reputation. To tell the truth, we