savage's arm. Perhaps he may have reminded him of
a son he had lost. He lifted up his club, but this time it was to
defend his young prisoner from the attack of another savage. He then
took him by the hand, and led him to a distance from the rest. Jerry
looked back earnestly at us, but he saw that if he attempted to escape
from his protector he should probably be killed by one of the others, so
he accompanied him without resistance. The rest of the savages,
collecting the dead bodies, fastened ropes to their legs, and dragged
them away, with loud shouts and songs of triumph. To our surprise, they
did not molest us. They saw that we retained the fire-arms, and
probably thought that they might take us at an advantage another time
without risk to themselves. We had still a good supply of powder and
balls, so, loading all the muskets, we prepared for an attack.
Horrified as I had been at the slaughter of our late shipmates, my great
anxiety was about Jerry. I hoped that his life might be safe, but it
was a sad fate to be kept in captivity by such treacherous and
bloodthirsty savages as these had showed themselves to be. I asked Mr
Brand where he thought we were. He replied that he had no doubt, from
the appearance and conduct of the savages, that we had been wrecked on
one of the outlying Fiji Islands. He told me that the inhabitants, a
few years back, had all been the very worst cannibals in the Pacific,
but that of late years Protestant missionaries had gone among them, and
that in some of the islands, of which there were eighty or ninety
inhabited, the whole population had, he understood, become Christians.
Still, however, a large number, among whom the light of truth had not
been introduced, retained their old habits and customs; and among some
of these we had unfortunately fallen. Of course, also, we could not but
be excessively anxious about our own fate. How could we hope to hold
out without food, should the savages attack us? The night passed away,
however, in silence. Our enemies were evidently abiding their time.

It was just daybreak when Ben Yool started up. "I can't stand it any
longer," he exclaimed. "I'll just go and see if those savages left any
of their provisions behind them." Without waking Mr Brand to know what
he would say, off he went down the hill. How anxiously I waited his
return! I was afraid that some of the savages might be lying in wait,
and might catch him. My ear watched f