strils; that if the king should by any chance be
bludgeoned in a taro-patch, the philosophical and musical inhabitants of
Equator Town might lay aside their pleasant instruments, and betake
themselves to what defence they had, with a very dim prospect of
success. These speculations were forced upon us by an incident which I
am ashamed to betray. The schooner _H.L. Haseltine_ (since capsized at
sea, with the loss of eleven lives) put in to Apemama in a good hour for
us, who had near exhausted our supplies. The king, after his habit,
spent day after day on board; the gin proved unhappily to his taste; he
brought a store of it ashore with him; and for some time the sole tyrant
of the isle was half-seas-over. He was not drunk--the man is not a
drunkard, he has always stores of liquor at hand, which he uses with
moderation,--but he was muzzy, dull, and confused. He came one day to
lunch with us, and while the cloth was being laid fell asleep in his
chair. His confusion, when he awoke and found he had been detected, was
equalled by our uneasiness. When he was gone we sat and spoke of his
peril, which we thought to be in some degree our own; of how easily the
man might be surprised in such a state by _grumbletonians_; of the
strange scenes that would follow--the royal treasures and stores at the
mercy of the rabble, the palace over-run, the garrison of women turned
adrift. And as we talked we were startled by a gun-shot and a sudden,
barbaric outcry. I believe we all changed colour; but it was only the
king firing at a dog and the chorus striking up in the Speak House. A
day or two later I learned the king was very sick; went down, diagnosed
the case; and took at once the highest medical degree by the exhibition
of bicarbonate of soda. Within the hour Richard was himself again; and I
found him at the unfinished house, enjoying the double pleasure of
directing Rubam and making a dinner off cocoa-nut dumplings, and all
eagerness to have the formula of this new sort of _pain-killer_--for
_pain-killer_ in the islands is the generic name of medicine. So ended
the king's modest spree and our anxiety.

On the face of things, I ought to say, loyalty appeared unshaken. When
the schooner at last returned for us, after much experience of baffling
winds, she brought a rumour that Tebureimoa had declared war on Apemama.
Tembinok' became a new man; his face radiant; his attitude, as I saw him
preside over a council of chiefs in one of the pa