ngular expression he made use of at the time, enforced by as singular a
gesture, the meaning of which I would have given much to penetrate. I am
inclined to believe it must have been a proverb he uttered; for I
afterwards heard him repeat the same words several times, and in what
appeared to me to be a somewhat similar sense. Indeed, Kory-Kory had a
great variety of short, smart-sounding sentences, with which he frequently
enlivened his discourse; and he introduced them with an air which plainly
intimated, that, in his opinion, they settled the matter in question,
whatever it might be.

Could it have been, then, that when I asked him whether he desired to go
to this heaven of bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, and young ladies, which he had
been describing, he answered by saying something equivalent to our old
adage--"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!"--if he did, Kory-Kory
was a discreet and sensible fellow, and I cannot sufficiently admire his
shrewdness.

Whenever, in the course of my rambles through the valley, I happened to be
near the chief's mausoleum, I always turned aside to visit it. The place
had a peculiar charm for me; I hardly know why, but so it was. As I leaned
over the railing and gazed upon the strange effigy, and watched the play
of the feathery head-dress, stirred by the same breeze which in low tones
breathed amidst the lofty palm trees, I loved to yield myself up to the
fanciful superstition of the islanders, and could almost believe that the
grim warrior was bound heavenward. In this mood, when I turned to depart,
I bade him, "God speed, and a pleasant voyage." Ay, paddle away, brave
chieftain, to the land of spirits! To the material eye thou makest but
little progress, but, with the eye of faith, I see thy canoe cleaving the
bright waves, which die away on those dimly looming shores of Paradise.

This strange superstition affords another evidence of the fact, that
however ignorant man may be, he still feels within him his immortal spirit
yearning after the unknown future.

Although the religious theories of the islands were a complete mystery to
me, their practical every-day operation could not be concealed. I
frequently passed the little temples reposing in the shadows of the Taboo
Groves, and beheld the offerings--mouldy fruit spread out upon a rude
altar, or hanging in half-decayed baskets around some uncouth,
jolly-looking images. I was present during the continuance of the
festival. I da