NAULUMATUA. 175 



of the last chief were laid> was eaten on the sly by this 

 cannibal, whose morbid taste for human flesh was ac- 

 knowledged by all the people in the town. . . . Tobi, 

 one of our party, happened to stumble into the chiefs 

 house, and he distinctly saw a human hand hanging in 

 the smoke over the fireplace. Now, although the dis- 

 tribution of all the other parts had been accurately de- 

 tailed to us, no mention was made of this, so that the 

 dissimulation of Naulumatua was clear enough. Most 

 probably, had we approached the spot, the inviting 

 morsel would have been quickly conveyed out of the 

 way. Mr. Waterhouse was informed that the chief 

 continued to eat his portion at intervals throughout the 

 day, until it was all demolished ; but an old favourite 

 of the town helps him out with it." Thus far Mac- 

 donald. 



Naulumatua was the half-brother of Kuruduadua, 

 and only died a short time previous to our visit, and the 

 court was still in mourning for him, which was the 

 reason of our not having either dance or song. His 

 head- wife took me to his grave, and lamenting his 

 death, said that he might still be alive if he had only 

 abstained from eating human flesh, and that both she 

 and Danford had done all in their power to convince 

 him that he was ruining his constitution systemati- 

 cally by that indulgence. For it appears that human 

 flesh is extremely difficult to digest, and that even the 

 strongest and most healthy men suffer from confined 

 bowels for two or three days after a cannibal feast. 

 Probably, in order to assist the process of digestion, 

 " bokola," as dead men's flesh is technically termed, is 



