Arrived in
front of one who now acted as chief, much laid down his burden,
exposing the contents--the body of a native child!--half roasted and
drawn--the "long pig" of the cannibals!
Overcome by what I had seen, I sought my gunyah, where I passed the
night a prey to the most dismal forebodings. Next morning I became ill,
with violent pains and headache, which incapacitated me for some days,
during which time a lubra named Moira sat beside me, apparently anxious
to do what lay in her power to ease my sufferings.
Helped by the words I had learnt in my former intercourse with savages
at the islands we had visited in the early part of the voyage, I was
soon able to make myself understood to Moira, and to understand what
she said when I confided to her my desire to escape to the sea coast At
first she would only shake her head, but I became so insistent that at
length she consented to help me. A tribal ceremony was very shortly to
be celebrated, so Moira informed me, when the night would be favourable
for the success of our project, since the tribe would then be assembled
at the camp fires. On that night, moreover, there was no moon until
late, and we trusted to be able to slip away in the darkness
unobserved.
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