The Great Taboo

, beneath those waving palms, on the island of Boupari. It was strange, to be sure, as Felix Thurstan had said,

might well have doubted whether it were not better to let her perish where she was, in the pure clear ocean, r

ay northward, toward the equator once more; and his votaries, as was their wont, had all come forth to do him honor in due season, and to pay their respects, in the inm

thunder, or the whir of some great English mill or factory; and at its sound every woman on the island threw herself on the ground prostrate, with her face in the dust, and waited there reverently till the audible voice of the god had once more subsided. For no

ing noise like the wheels of a distant carriage, growing gradually louder and clearer, from moment to moment, till at last it waxes itself into a frightful din, or bursts into perfect peals of imitation thunder. Then it decreases again

e, and running, naked as he stands, to take his share in the worship, lest the anger of heaven should burst forth in devouring flames to consume him. But the women, knowing themselves unworthy to face the dread

n the central grove that evening, Tu-Kila-Kila, their god, rose slowly from his plac

sky forms that bent low, like corn beneath the wind, before him, "Tu-Kila

all, lithe, and active. His figure was that of a man well used to command; but his face, though handsome, was visibly marked by every external sign of cruelty, lust, and extreme bloodthirstiness. One mig

did, the light from his holy eyes would wither them up, and the glow of his glorious countenance would scorch them to ashes." He raised his two hands, palm outward, in front of him. "So all the year round," he went on, "Tu-Kila-Kila, who loves his people, and sends them the earlier and the later rain in the wet season, and makes their yams an

pping of hands, like some solemn litany: "Tu-Kila-Kila speaks true. Our lord is merciful. He sends down his showers upon our crops and fields. He c

by the huge spreading arms of a gigantic banyan-tree. Through the open door of the hut it was possible to catch just a passing glimpse of an awful sight within. On the beams of the house, and on the boughs of the trees behind it, human skel

the spirit of plants. Without me there would be nothing for you all to eat or drink in Boupari. If I were to grow old and die, the sun would fade away in the heavens

" they answered, in the same slow sing-song of assent as before. "Tu-Kila-Kil

went on, melodiously, like one who plays with consummate skill upon some difficult instrument. "I am greedy; I am thirsty; I am a hungry god. You must not stint me. I claim more human victims than all the oth

ms as you will, great god; only give us yam and taro and bread-fruit, a

tory voice, clapping his hands thrice. "I am thir

st in a deep red gash, caused the blood to flow out freely over his chest and long grass waistband. Then, having done so, they never strove for a moment to stanc

ow my strength, how I can wither them up. They give me their blood to drink freely. So I will be merciful to them. I will make my sun shin

the men answered, withou

t. Choose which one

d then, he felt a leg or an arm with his finger and thumb, and hesitated a second. It was an important matter, this choosing a victim. As he passed, a close observer might have noted that each man trembled visibly while the god's eye was upon him, and looked after him askance with a terrified sidelong gaze as he pas

toward a row he had already passed several minutes before, he exclaimed, wit

s heart at all, it could not be detected in his voice or his features. He bowed his head with seeming satisfaction, and answered humbly, "What Tu-Kila-K

k by the door, and tried its edge with his finger, in an abstracted manner. "Bind him!" he said, quietly, turning round to his

m the terror of the bull-roarer by the god's command, brought forward a great gar

waving his hand gracefully. And the men, moving forward, laid their comrade, face downward, on a huge fla

free-will offering. Now for the trespass! Where is the woman who dared to approach

al terror in every muscle, a well-formed young girl of eighteen or twenty. Her naked bronze limbs were shapely and lissome; but her eyes were swollen and red with tears,

, in a feeble voice. "I have sinn

mocking voice. "Does he pardon his suppliants? Does he forgive trespasses? Is he not a god, and must not his wrath be appeased? She, being a woman, and no

eir eyes, that mob of wild savages, let loose to torture and slay, fell upon her with hideous shouts, a

Tu-Kila-Kila said, grimly.

lay the victims," the god said, in a gloating voice, run

d beforehand in the yard of the temple. In a second, the dry fuel, catching the sparks instantly, blazed up to heaven with a wild outburst of flame. Great red tongues of fire licked up the mouldering mass of leaves and twigs, and caught at once at the trunks of palm and li wood wi

re!" he said, gayly. "A fire worthy of a god. It will serve me

the Australasian was passing. Tu-Kila-Kila pointed toward it solemnly with his plump, brown fore-finger. "See," he said, drawing himself up and looking preternaturally wise; "your god is great. I am sending some of this fire across the sea to

n! Miraculous light on the waves! Their god must, indeed, be a mighty deity if he could send flames like that careering over the sea! Surely the sun was safe in the hands of a potentate who could thus visibly reinforce it with red light, and white! In their astonishment and awe, they stood with their long hair falling down over their foreheads, and their hands held up to their eyes that they might gaz

stitious as any of his own votaries, he absolutely accepted as a fact his own suggestion, that the light he saw was the reflection of that his men had kindled. The interpretation he had put up

n nobles and rulers accept theirs. He had no doubts himself,

rs stood still, and halted in mid-ocean. The lesser light made as if it would come in the

o my island. I am doing my work well. I am taking care of my people. Fear not for your future. In the light is yet another victim. A man and a woman will come to Boupari from the sun, to make up for the man and woman whom we eat in ou

rained the two bound and defenceless victims on the altar-stone of his fathers. The rest

s struggling, with all his might, to carry Muriel Ellis, from the