d start; and, whether from remorse or fear, there is
no doubt he seeks a refuge in the abuse of drugs.

The rajah displayed no sign of interest in our coming. But the queen,
who sat beside him in a purple sacque, was more accessible; and there
was present an interpreter so willing that his volubility became at last
the cause of our departure. He had greeted us upon our entrance:--"That
is the honourable King, and I am his interpreter," he had said, with
more stateliness than truth. For he held no appointment in the court,
seemed extremely ill-acquainted with the island language, and was
present, like ourselves, upon a visit of civility. Mr. Williams was his
name: an American darkey, runaway ship's cook, and bar-keeper at "The
Land we Live in" tavern, Butaritari. I never knew a man who had more
words in his command or less truth to communicate; neither the gloom of
the monarch, nor my own efforts to be distant, could in the least abash
him; and when the scene closed, the darkey was left talking.

The town still slumbered, or had but just begun to turn and stretch
itself; it was still plunged in heat and silence. So much the more vivid
was the impression that we carried away of the house upon the islet, the
Micronesian Saul wakeful amid his guards, and his unmelodious David, Mr.
Williams, chattering through the drowsy hours.

CHAPTER II

THE FOUR BROTHERS

The kingdom of Tebureimoa includes two islands, Great and Little Makin;
some two thousand subjects pay him tribute, and two semi-independent
chieftains do him qualified homage. The importance of the office is
measured by the man; he may be a nobody, he may be absolute; and both
extremes have been exemplified within the memory of residents.

On the death of king Tetimararoa, Tebureimoa's father, Nakaeia, the
eldest son, succeeded. He was a fellow of huge physical strength,
masterful, violent, with a certain barbaric thrift and some intelligence
of men and business. Alone in his islands it was he who dealt and
profited; he was the planter and the merchant; and his subjects toiled
for his behoof in servitude. When they wrought long and well their
task-master declared a holiday, and supplied and shared a general
debauch. The scale of his providing was at times magnificent; six
hundred dollars' worth of gin and brandy was set forth at once; the
narrow land resounded with the noise of revelry; and it was a common
thing to see the subjects (staggering themselves)