42 



porter's journal. 



order that they might be buried; and, at the same time, 

 to endeavour to find out whether they were really addict- 

 ed to a practice so unnatural. The acknowledgments of 

 Gattanewa left but little doubt on my mind, and yet 1 found 

 it difficult to reconcile this practice with the generosity 

 and benevolence which were leading traits in their cha- 

 racter. They are cleanly in their persons, washing three 

 or four times a day. They are cleanly in their mode of 

 cooking and manner of eating ; and it was remarked, that 

 no islaf)der was known to taste of any thing whatever, until 

 he had first apphed it to his nose, and if it was in the slight- 

 est degree tainted or offensive to the smell, it was always 

 rejected. How then can it be possible that a people so 

 delicate, living in a country abounding with hogs, fruit, 

 and a considerable variety of vegetables, should prefer a 

 loathsome putrid human carcass, to the numerous delica- 

 cies their valleys afford ? It cannot be : there must have 

 been some misconception. I proceeded to the house of 

 Gattanewa, which I found filled with women making the 

 most dreiadful lamentations, and surrounded by a large 

 concourse of male natives. On my appearance there was 

 a general shout of terror ; all fixed their eyes on me with 

 looks of fear and apprehension. I approached the wife 

 of Gattanewa, and required to know the cause of this 

 alarm. She said, now that we had destroyed the Happahs, 

 they were fearful we should turn on them: she took hold of 

 my hand, which she kissed, and moistened with her tears : 

 then placing it on her head, knelt to kiss my feet. She 

 told me they were willing to be our slaves, to serve us, 

 that their houses, their lands, their hogs, and every thing 

 belonging to them were ours ; but begged that 1 would 

 have mercy on her, her children, and her family, and not 

 put them to death. It seemed that they had worked 

 themselves up to the highest pitch of fear, and on my ap- 

 pearance with a sentinel accompanying me, they could see 

 in me nothing but the demon of destruction. I raised the 

 poor old woman from her humble posture, and begged her 

 to banish her groundless fears, that I had no intention of 

 injuring any person residing in the valley of Tieuhoy: 

 that if the Happahs had drawn on themselves our ven- 

 4^e?Lnce, and felt our resentment, they had none to blame but 

 themselves. I had offered them peace ; but they had pre- 



