y temerity. The
amphibious young creatures swarmed about me like a shoal of dolphins, and
seizing hold of my devoted limbs, tumbled me about and ducked me under the
surface, until from the strange noises which rang in my ears, and the
supernatural visions dancing before my eyes, I thought I was in the land
of spirits. I stood indeed as little chance among them as a cumbrous whale
attacked on all sides by a legion of sword-fish. When at length they
relinquished their hold of me, they swam away in every direction, laughing
at my clumsy endeavours to reach them.

There was no boat on the lake; but at my solicitation, and for my special
use, some of the young men attached to Marheyo's household, under the
direction of the indefatigable Kory-Kory, brought up a light and
tastefully carved canoe from the sea. It was launched upon the sheet of
water, and floated there as gracefully as a swan. But, melancholy to
relate, it produced an effect I had not anticipated. The sweet nymphs, who
had sported with me before in the lake, now all fled its vicinity. The
prohibited craft, guarded by the edicts of the "taboo," extended the
prohibition to the waters in which it lay.

For a few days, Kory-Kory, with one or two other youths, accompanied me in
my excursions to the lake and, while I paddled about in my light canoe,
would swim after me shouting and gambolling in pursuit. But this was far
from contenting me. Indeed, I soon began to weary of it, and longed more
than ever for the pleasant society of the mermaids, in whose absence the
amusement was dull and insipid. One morning I expressed to my faithful
servitor my desire for the return of the nymphs. The honest fellow looked
at me, bewildered for a moment, and then shook his head solemnly, and
murmured "_taboo! taboo!_" giving me to understand that unless the canoe
was removed, I could not expect to have the young ladies back again. But
to this procedure I was averse; I not only wanted the canoe to stay where
it was, but I wanted the beauteous Fayaway to get into it, and paddle with
me about the lake. This latter proposition completely horrified
Kory-Kory's notions of propriety. He inveighed against it, as something
too monstrous to be thought of. It not only shocked their established
notions of propriety, but was at variance with all their religious
ordinances.

However, although the "taboo" was a ticklish thing to meddle with, I
determined to test its capabilities of resisting an at