I whispered to Bickley. "Tell him
that they do when they come to Orofena."

He did so, whereon the chief said:

"Would the gods like a nice young girl cooked?"

At this point Bastin retired down the path, realising that he had to do
with cannibals. We said that we preferred to look at the girls alive and
would meet them again to-morrow morning, when we hoped that the house
would be ready.

So our first interview with the inhabitants of Orofena came to an end,
on which we congratulated ourselves.

On reaching the remains of the Star of the South we set to work to take
stock of what was left to us. Fortunately it proved to be a very great
deal. As I think I mentioned, all the passenger part of the yacht lay
forward of the bridge, just in front of which the vessel had been broken
in two, almost as cleanly as though she were severed by a gigantic
knife. Further our stores were forward and practically everything else
that belonged to us, even down to Bickley's instruments and medicines
and Bastin's religious works, to say nothing of a great quantity of
tinned food and groceries. Lastly on the deck above the saloon had
stood two large lifeboats. Although these were amply secured at the
commencement of the gale one of them, that on the port side, was smashed
to smithers; probably some spar had fallen upon it. The starboard
boat, however, remained intact and so far as we could judge, seaworthy,
although the bulwarks were broken by the waves.

"There's something we can get away in if necessary," I said.

"Where to?" remarked Bastin. "We don't know where we are or if there is
any other land within a thousand miles. I think we had better stop here
as Providence seems to have intended, especially when there is so much
work to my hand."

"Be careful," answered Bickley, "that the work to your hand does not end
in the cutting of all our throats. It is an awkward thing interfering
with the religion of savages, and I believe that these untutored
children of Nature sometimes eat missionaries."

"Yes, I have heard that," said Bastin; "they bake them first as they do
pigs. But I don't know that they would care to eat me," and he glanced
at his bony limbs, "especially when you are much plumper. Anyhow one
can't stop for a risk of that sort."

Deigning no reply, Bickley walked away to fetch some fine fish which
had been washed up by the tidal wave and were still flapping about in
a little pool of salt water. Then we took counse