everything would be at our disposal and we, with all our
belongings, should become taboo, holy, not to be touched. None
would attempt to harm us, nothing should be stolen under penalty
of death.

We asked him to come up on the deck with only one companion
that his sickness might be ascertained, and after much hesitation
he consented to do so. Bickley made an examination of the growth
and announced that he believed it could be removed with perfect
safety as the attachment to the neck was very slight, but of
course there was always a risk. This was explained to him with
difficulty, and much talk followed between him and his followers
who gathered on the beach beneath the ship. They seemed adverse
to the experiment, till Marama grew furious with them and at last
burst into tears saying that he could no longer drag this
terrible burden about with him, and he touched the growth. He
would rather die. Then they gave way.

I will tell the rest as shortly as I can.

A hideous wooden idol was brought on board, wrapped in leaves
and feathers, and upon it the chief and his head people swore
safety to us whether he lived or died, making us the guests of
their land. There were, however, two provisos made, or as such we
understood them. These seemed to be that we should offer no
insult or injury to their god, and secondly, that we should not
set foot on the island in the lake. It was not till afterwards
that it occurred to me that this must refer to the mountain top
which appeared in the inland sheet of water. To those
stipulations we made no answer. Indeed, the Orofenans did all the