Willis, at a sign from his conductress, seated himself in a chair,
raised on a dais, and surmounted by a terrific figure similar to the
one already described, but draped in white feathers instead of red.
The fat lady, or rather the high priestess--for she was the reigning
potentate in this magazine of idols--took a sucking pig that was held
by one of the priests. After muttering a prayer or homily of some
sort, she strangled the poor animal, and returned it to the priest. By
and by, the pig was brought in again cooked, and presented with great
ceremony to Willis. There were likewise sundry dishes of fruit, nuts,
and several small cups containing some kind of liquid. One of the
priests cut up the pig, and lifted pieces of it to Willis's mouth;
these, however, he refused to eat. The fat priestess, observing this,
chewed one or two mouthfuls, which she afterwards handed to the Pilot.
This was putting the sailor's gallantry to rather a rude test. He was
equal to the emergency, and did not refuse the offering. But he must
have felt at the time, that being a divinity was not entirely without
its attendant inconveniences.
Nor was this the only infliction of the kind he was doomed to
withstand. One of the priests took up a piece of kava-root, put it
into his mouth, chewed it, and then dropped a bit into each of the
cups already noticed.
Pages:
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339