amount of running backwards and forwards. Something important was,
obviously enough, going forward; but, whether the excitement was
caused by curiosity or admiration, it was hard to say. They might be
preparing a friendly reception for the stranger, or they might be
preparing to eat him--which of the two was an interesting question
that Willis did not care about probing too deeply at that particular
moment.

Fritz and Jack anxiously watched the operations of the natives from
the bay. They could not with safety abandon the pinnace; but to leave
Willis to the mercy of the sinister-looking people on shore was not to
be thought of either. The _Mary_ was, therefore, run in as close as
possible, and Jack leaped on the sands a few minutes after the Pilot.

Willis marched boldly on towards the natives, and when he arrived
beside the old man, the crowd opened up and formed an avenue through
which a chief advanced, followed by a number of men, seemingly
priests, who carried a grotesque-looking figure that Jack presumed to
be an idol. The figure was made up of wicker-work--was of colossal
height--the features, which represented nothing on earth beneath nor
heaven above, were inconceivably hideous--the eyes were discs of
mother-of-pearl, with a nut in the centre--the teeth were apparently
those of a shark, and the body was covered with a mantle of red
feathers.

At the command of the chief, some of the natives advanced and placed a
quantity of bananas, bread-fruits, and other vegetables at the Pilot's
feet; the priests then came forward and knelt down before him, and
seemed to worship after the fashion of the ancients when they paid
their devotions to the Eleusinian goddess, or the statue of Apollo.
Meanwhile, Jack, on his side, was likewise surrounded by the natives,
who was treated with much less ceremony than Willis. Instead of
falling down on their knees, each of them, one after the other, rubbed
their noses against his, and then danced round him with every
demonstration of savage joy.

Jack had now an opportunity of observing the personages about him more
in detail. They were mostly tall and well-formed; their features bore
some resemblance to those of a negro, their nose being flat and their
lips thick; on the other hand, they had the high cheek-bones of the
North American Indian and the forehead of the Malay. Nearly all of
them were entirely naked, but wore a necklace and bracelets of shells.
They were armed with a sort