question. He asked, in the nearest approach that his knowledge could
make to the language used in the island, whether he would be a long time
or a short time absent from his ship.

The chief answered mysteriously (as the Captain understood him) in these
words: "Long time or short time, your life depends on it, and the lives
of your men."

Paddling his light little boat in silence over the smooth water inside
the reef, the chief took his visitor ashore at a part of the island
which was quite new to the Captain. The two crossed a ravine, and
ascended an eminence beyond. There the chief stopped, and silently
pointed out to sea.

The Captain looked in the direction indicated to him, and discovered a
second and a smaller island, lying away to the southwest. Taking out his
telescope from the case by which it was slung at his back, he narrowly
examined the place. Two of the native canoes were lying off the shore
of the new island; and the men in them appeared to be all kneeling
or crouching in curiously chosen attitudes. Shifting the range of his
glass, he next beheld a white-robed figure, tall and solitary--the one
inhabitant of the island whom he could discover. The man was standing on
the highest point of a rocky cape. A fire was burning at his feet. Now
he lifted his arms solemnly to the sky; now he dropped some invisible
fuel into the fire, which made a blue smoke; and now he cast other
invisible objects into the canoes floating beneath him, which the
islanders reverently received with bodies that crouched in abject
submission. Lowering his telescope, the Captain looked round at the
chief for an explanation. The chief gave the explanation readily. His
language was interpreted by the English stranger in these terms:

"Wonderful white man! the island you see yonder is a Holy Island. As
such it is _Taboo_--an island sanctified and set apart. The honorable
person whom you notice on the rock is an all-powerful favorite of the
gods. He is by vocation a Sorcerer, and by rank a Priest. You now see
him casting charms and blessings into the canoes of our fishermen, who
kneel to him for fine weather and great plenty of fish. If any profane
person, native or stranger, presumes to set foot on that island, my
otherwise peaceful subjects will (in the performance of a religious
duty) put that person to death. Mention this to your men. They will be
fed by my male people, and fondled by my female people, so long as they
keep clear of