ligious feelings, which could not be satisfied with the traditions of
her people. As I gazed at her ingenuous countenance, full of
earnestness and sensibility, while she endeavoured to express the vague
thoughts on these subjects which had at times floated through her mind,
I could scarcely believe that this was the same gay and careless being,
whose life had seemed to be as natural, as unconscious, and as joyous,
as that of a bird or a flower. She said, that often when alone in some
secluded spot in the depth of the wood, while all around was so hushed
and peaceful, she had suddenly burst into tears, feeling that what she
had been taught of the gods could not be true, and that if Oro was
indeed the creator of so beautiful a world--if he had made the smiling
groves, the bright flowers, and the multitude of happy living things, he
must be a good being, who could not delight in the cruelties practised
in his name. Often, when a mere girl, thoughts like these had visited
her, wandering by the sea-shore at twilight, or looking up through the
foliage of waving cocoa-nut-groves at the starry skies, when nature
herself, by her harmony and beauty, had seemed to proclaim that God was
a being of light and love, in whom was no darkness at all!

"Presently Mowno joined us, and I talked with him in regard to the
intended burial of the aged woman, his aunt and endeavoured to make him
see the act in its true light. But with all his natural amiability,
such was the effect of custom and education, that he seemed perfectly
insensible on the subject. He observed, in a cool, matter-of-fact
manner, that when people got very old and could not work, they were of
no use to others or themselves--that it was then time for them to die,
and much best that they should do so at once; and that if they did not,
then their friends ought to bury them. As to Malola, his aunt, he said
that she was quite willing to be buried, and had in fact suggested it
herself; that she was often very sick, and in great pain, so that she
had no pleasure in living any longer; he added, as another grave and
weighty consideration, that she had lost most of her teeth, and could
not chew her food, unless it was prepared differently from that of the
rest of the family, which caused Olla much trouble.

"Finding that argument and expostulation had not the slightest effect
upon him, I changed my tactics, and suddenly demanded whether he would
be willing to have Olla buried,