"Gentle reader," Rutherford continues, "we will now consider the sad
situation we were in; our ship lost, three of our companions already
killed, and the rest of us tied each to a tree, starving with hunger,
wet, and cold, and knowing that we were in the hands of cannibals.

"The next morning, I observed that the surf had driven the ship over the
bar, and she was now in the mouth of the river, and aground near the end
of the village. Everything being now out of her, about ten o'clock in
the morning they set fire to her; after which they all mustered together
on an unoccupied piece of ground near the village, where they remained
standing for some time; but at last they all sat down except five, who
were chiefs, for whom a large ring was left vacant in the middle. The
five chiefs, of whom Aimy was one, then approached the place where we
were, and after they had stood consulting for some time, Aimy released
me and another, and, taking us into the middle of the ring, made signs
for us to sit down, which we did. In a few minutes, the other four
chiefs came also into the ring, bringing along with them four more of
our men, who were made to sit down beside us.

"The chiefs now walked backward and forward in the ring with their merys
in their hands, and continued talking together for some time, but we
understood nothing of what they said. The rest of the natives were all
the while very silent, and seemed to listen to them with great
attention. At length, one of the chiefs spoke to one of the natives who
was seated on the ground, and the latter immediately rose, and, taking
his tomahawk in his hand, went and killed the other six men who were
tied to the trees. They groaned several times as they were struggling in
the agonies of death, and at every groan the natives burst out in great
fits of laughter.