It was late in the evening when we started. The sky was clear, the stars shone unusually bright, as if approving our mission. So stilly they rowed, that not a noise was heard, save the surf dashing against the iron bound shore from the long and heavy regular swell of the sea. Not a word was heard, for every man knew his duty without an order.
Thus we continued on in silence until we reached the bay. We neared the shore and landed about thirty men, a sufficient number being left with the boats.
They had scarce left us when the whole welkin rang with loud shrieks; the war-whoop was sounded.
Our men returned bringing with them ten men, four women and two children. Some were borne upon the backs of the captors, others were drawn upon the ground by the feet. They were brought alive, though their limbs were broken and their skulls badly fractured.
Our canoes shoved off amid the groans of the dying and the shouts and songs of triumph of the captors. The next morning those that were brought alive, having in one or two instances returned to consciousness, were brought forward to the tabu ground, and fastened with the face towards a stake, driven in the ground for the purpose.
The king then with a long pole, on the end of which is a wad, or tuft of hair, white as snow, which is the beard of some man, generally of their own tribe, who had lived to a great age, walks slowly around the stake followed by the chief, who carries a heavy war club, which he brandishes furiously about, at the same time chanting a kind of tune, in which he is joined by many of the tribe, who are all gathered around.
After walking a few times around, the chief, quick as thought, gives the prisoner a blow upon the head, which at once puts an end to his existence; he was then unloosed from the stake, and prepared for the oven.
A war dance was then performed around the body, accompanied with loud shouting, singing, and clapping of hands.
The preparations were then made for roasting the bodies; the ovens were heated, bread fruit, and other things collected in great abundance; the bodies were brought forward, having the entrails removed, the legs bent upon the back, and fastened to the neck. Small hot stones were placed in the body, and the whole then placed in the ovens, as described. The time required for baking a body in that manner, does not exceed forty minutes.
When the bodies are baked, they are removed from the oven to a table, where they are disjointed. A procession is then formed, headed by the king and chiefs, followed by the members of the royal family. A person selected for the purpose then follows with a calabash, filled with a portion of the body, also of the other articles prepared for the occasion.