He has put you under protection of Fire and Water." The people in the boats, with one accord, shouted out in wild chorus, as if to confirm his words, "Taboo! Taboo! Tu-Kila-Kila has said it! Taboo! Taboo! Ware Fire! Ware Water!" Though the dialect in which they spoke differed somewhat from that in use in Fiji, Felix could still make out with care almost every word of what the chief had said to him; and the universal Polynesian expression, "Taboo," in particular, somewhat reassured him as to their friendly intentions.

Among remote heathen islanders like these, he felt sure, the very word itself was far too sacred to be taken in vain.

They would respect its inviolability.

He turned round to Muriel.

"We must go with them," he said, shortly.