landed they were seized by the natives and carried up into the
woods. We knew pretty well what their fate would be, but we could
not help them, for our crew was small, and if we had gone ashore
they would likely have killed us all. We never saw the three men
again; but we heard frightful yelling, and dancing, and merry-
making that night; and one of the natives, who came aboard to trade
with us next day, told us that the LONG PIGS, as he called the men,
had been roasted and eaten, and their bones were to be converted
into sail needles. He also said that white men were bad to eat,
and that most o' the people on shore were sick."

I was very much shocked and cast down in my mind at this terrible
account of the natives, and asked Bill what he would advise me to
do. Looking round the deck to make sure that we were not
overheard, he lowered his voice and said, "There are two or three
ways that we might escape, Ralph, but none o' them's easy. If the
captain would only sail for some o' the islands near Tahiti, we
might run away there well enough, because the natives are all
Christians; an' we find that wherever the savages take up with
Christianity they always give over their bloody ways, and are safe
to be trusted. I never cared for Christianity myself," he
continued, in a soliloquising voice, "and I don't well know what it
means; but a man with half an eye can see what it does for these
black critters. However, the captain always keeps a sharp look out
after us when we get to these islands, for he half suspects that
one or two o' us are tired of his company. Then, we might manage
to cut the boat adrift some fine night when it's our watch on deck,
and clear off before they discovered that we were gone. But we
would run the risk o' bein' caught by the blacks. I wouldn't like
to try that plan. But you and I will think over it, Ralph, and see