AMONG THE CANNIBALS 115 



been dragging him off as our men returned, for he 

 was quite warm, and a track was left showing where 

 they had been drawing the body. As to the other 

 two men, no trace of them was ever found; but we 

 learned afterwards that there had been great rejoicing 

 amongst the savages, with an almost unequalled feast 

 of white men's flesh. 



Our friendlies had made one prisoner, the chief of 

 the tribe. How such a renowned fighter could have 

 fallen into their hands alive we never knew; but suffice 

 it to say he found himself, a few hours after, chained 

 by the ankles to an iron bar between two guns on 

 the main deck of the Iris. I do not know if it was 

 in our skipper's mind to hang him at the yard-arm, 

 but the belief that this would be the man's fate was 

 very general on board, and I can scarcely doubt the 

 savage himself contemplated no other fate. But there 

 was, for we landed him a few days after on another 

 of the Hebridean group', where the people were not 

 friendly to his tribe; so probably death overtook him 

 shortly in another form. 



Meanwhile, on board our ship, we had in him an 

 instance of how extraordinarily susceptible are some 

 men to the influence of music, even amongst the most 

 savage. Our band was playing one night, and as 

 the strains of music rose and fell this grizzly, grey- 

 headed old chief gradually drew his gaunt body from 

 the deck on which he lay, wriggling his feet in the 

 irons until he could lean over the gun which separated 

 him from the musicians, where he remained apparently 

 transfixed with wonder, his head rolling about, his eyes 

 half-closed, whilst every now and then he would give 

 a low grunt of approval. Then when the first tune 



