of Lord North’s Island. 229 
once more enjoying the society of civilized beings, —of once more 
reaching the shores of our beloved country, — sunk back into a 
state of despair; we wept like children.” * 
When the natives returned from the ship, they had brought with 
them a small quantity of iron hoops, and a few other articles of 
little value; but they were highly dissatisfied with the amount re- 
ceived, and became greatly enraged. The division of the prop- 
erty caused much difficulty, and they quarrelled on account of it for 
several days. The seamen who remained in their hands, though 
innocent, were made the sufferers; they were held accountable for 
the conduct of those who had left them, and the natives vented 
their malignity upon them. ‘The captives were given to understand 
that their doom was now fixed; which proved to be but too true in 
respect to all except two of them. 
After the departure of the captain and the seaman Rollins, the 
natives treated the captives with increased severity; and the suf- 
ferers gradually sunk under their laborious tasks, or perished from 
actual starving or blows. Generally they were roused from. their 
broken slumbers about sunrise, and compelled to go to work, which 
was, usually, the cultivation of a vegetable or root somewhat re- 
sembling the yam, and called by them korei. It is raised in beds 
of mud, which are prepared by digging out the sand and filling 
the place with mould. This labor was performed wholly by the 
hand ; they were compelled, day after day, from morning till night, 
to stand in the mud, and to turn it up with their hands; and 
frequently this was done without their having a morsel of food till 
noon, and sometimes till night; at best they could get no more 
than a small piece of cocoa-nut — hardly a common mouthful —at 
* Holden’s Narrative, p. 97. 
41 
