Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 24, 2025
A few minutes after they were re-conducted to Ware-Atoua, which was their prison. But Robert Grant and Paganel were not with them. KAI-KOUMOU, as frequently happens among the Maories, joined the title of ariki to that of tribal chief. He was invested with the dignity of priest, and, as such, he had the power to throw over persons or things the superstitious protection of the "taboo."
Strong liquors distilled from the "piper excelsum" animated the intoxication of the natives. They had nothing human left. It seemed possible that the "taboo" might be forgotten, and they might rush upon the prisoners, who were already terrified at their delirious gestures. But Kai-Koumou had kept his own senses amidst the general delirium.
The Kai-Koumou drew near; suddenly the wretched victim rose; but a violent blow from a "MERE," a kind of club brandished by the chief, struck her to the ground; she fell senseless. Horrible yells followed; a hundred arms threatened the terror-stricken captives. But no one moved, for the funeral ceremonies were not yet over. The wife of Kara-Tete had joined her husband.
A sudden gleam flashed into the eyes of Kai-Koumou, and he said in a deep voice: "Exchange you, if your own people care to have you; eat you if they don't." Glenarvan asked no further questions; but hope revived in his heart. He concluded that some Maori chiefs had fallen into the hands of the English, and that the natives would try to get them exchanged.
It was all over with Glenarvan and his companions. "All!" cried Kai-Koumou; "you all die to-morrow at daybreak." Punishment fell on all indiscriminately. Lady Helena and Mary Grant were grateful to Heaven for the boon. The captives were not taken back to Ware-Atoua. They were destined to attend the obsequies of the chief and the bloody rites that accompanied them.
"And your companions?" said Kai-Koumou. "My companions are English like myself. We are shipwrecked travelers, but it may be important to state that we have taken no part in the war." "That matters little!" was the brutal answer of Kara-Tete. "Every Englishman is an enemy. Your people invaded our island! They robbed our fields! they burned our villages!" "They were wrong!" said Glenarvan, quietly.
Glenarvan and the rest walked across the "pah" and stopped before Kai-Koumou. He was surrounded by the principal warriors of his tribe, and among them the Maori whose canoe joined that of the Kai-Koumou at the confluence of Pohain-henna, on the Waikato. He was a man about forty years of age, powerfully built and of fierce and cruel aspect.
Kai-Koumou appeared equally astonished. "You doubt it then?" said he. "I do not know," replied Glenarvan. "Your people will not accept you as an exchange for Tohonga?" "Me alone? no," repeated Glenarvan. "All of us perhaps they might." "Our Maori custom," replied Kai-Koumou, "is head for head."
McNabbs," replied Robert, "Kai-Koumou is left alone with the warriors of his canoe. . . . . Oh! one of them is coming up here. . . . ." "Come down, Robert," said Glenarvan. At this moment, Lady Helena who had risen, seized her husband's arm. "Edward," she said in a resolute tone, "neither Mary Grant nor I must fall into the hands of these savages alive!"
Glenarvan, therefore, was fully prepared to pay the penalty of the righteous indignation that nerved his arm, but he hoped that the wrath of Kai-Koumou would not extend beyond himself. What a night he and his companions passed! Who could picture their agonies or measure their sufferings? Robert and Paganel had not been restored to them, but their fate was no doubtful matter.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking