AMONG CANNIBALS ON FOTUNA 97 
have felt disgusted and dispirited. The greatest tax has been 
on our patience. It has been tried by their inquisitiveness, 
sometimes by their persistency, occasionally by their impu- 
dence. For some months our cookhouse was the place where 
the passers-by came to lounge, to get their pipes lighted, ... 
-so that Mrs. Copeland often had difficulty in getting near 
the fire. 
“So much fuel was carried off that our servants com- 
plained that the Fotunese got as much of the wood as we 
did. At times our own house would be so full that we could 
not get anything done for the din of their voices, the stifling 
heat, and having to watch their movements. Then they would 
take up the bread on the table, and smell it, or try on a hat 
or a pair of shoes; while we were increasingly assailed with, 
‘Give me this, that, and the other thing.’ 
“But of late they have improved. Curiosity has been 
somewhat gratified, and they know that it is one thing to 
ask, and another thing to get. We are no longer troubled 
with crowds of them in the house; we can forbid a man from 
coming in by the window; and we now have no fear of tell- 
ing some one who has stretched himself out at full length 
for a nap on the floor, to seek for a couch elsewhere. ... 
The people are all idolaters, and superstition holds unbroken 
sway. . . . The symbols of the rain maker, the food pro- 
ducer, etc., meet you in all your rambles; while the sounds 
of their midnight dances, and the shrieks of those pretend- 
ing to be possessed by spirits, often drive sleep far from us.” 
At last Popoina, a savage who had become interested in 
the gospel, cut off his long hair (the badge of heathenism), 
and identified himself with the mission party. Soon after- 
ward, however, he became very ill, and Mr. Copeland was 
called to see him. He found Popoina lying with teeth tightly 
clenched and wholly unconscious. Mr. Copeland prepared 
a stimulant, and forcing open the clenched teeth of the 
sick man, poured the stimulant down his throat. Almost 
immediately Popoina stirred and opened his eyes. At once 
7 
