e king sixty dollars a-month, and I should say, from
the careless appearance of his household, that he made a bad use of
it--besides, he was addicted to _arva_, which my friend assured me was a
shade worse for the stomach than prussic acid. I returned to the frigate
in the evening, with a party planned to visit the Happar valley, whose
beauties we had heard much extolled, on the following day.

CHAPTER XLVII.

Early the next morning I went on shore, but duties of the garrison
prevented the officers from leaving until the morning was somewhat
advanced--too late to cross the dividing ridges to the adjacent glens,
and we accordingly changed the destination, for an excursion up the
valley at the head of the harbor.

A pair of native boys preceded us, with baskets. Walking briskly through
paths lined with thick, wild undergrowth of tobacco, arrow-root, ginger
and guavas, we mounted a number of acclivities, and then striking the
bed of a water-course, in two hours reached a comparatively level space,
which, my friend informed me, was _la cour de l'ancienne Noblesse_, and
the spot where high festivals of the Nukehevans were held. The court was
a parallelogram, paved with smooth, round stones, and on three sides
surrounded by native-built houses, unoccupied, but very large and
commodious, all in good repair, and ready for a perspective feast. At
the lower ends of the square coursed a little stream, and the place was
dark with shade of lofty cocoanuts, bread-fruit, iron-wood, maple and
gigantic hibiscus. All was silent, gloomy and deserted, the imperative
decrees of Taboo preserved it sacred from native footsteps, during the
intervals between their sacrifices and feasts--even our
_cumulees_--boys, made a wide circuit, with bowed heads and averted
faces.

Closely scrutinizing this field of heathenish revels, we continued on
up the ravine, and in a few minutes familiarly paid our respects to the
King's father, by unceremoniously bobbing through his doorway, and
slapping him smartly on the back.

The hut was large, in accordance with the position, rank and wealth of
the owner. A trickling rivulet in front filled a scooped-out bowl in the
rocks, some yards in diameter, and then flowed over a little natural
channel, worn at the side, like the gutter to a fountain. Around and
above, the cocoanuts were rustling in the sea-breeze.

We were cordially greeted by the host, who was seated on his hams and
heels, with no other