Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 3.djvu/213

Rh to defend him at all costs. They inquired of one another "What shall we do with Temit? Where will he be safe?" Then the big man suggested that the best place would be in their father's hut. This was one of the best on the island, and was thatched all around. After a supper shared with the family he was taken to the house of the old people and shown a place of concealment and was given a cocoanut palm mat, upon which he slept quite comfortably. He was also supplied with taro, and remained in the thatch for three days. Word was then sent that he would be safe at home, and he returned.

The policy of destroying the white men was continued. The one that Holden saw killed was Pete Anderson. His body was taken out to the outer edge of the lagoon, and was cast into the main ocean, as if unfit to remain on the island. Not long after one of the Pelew chiefs was killed. He had been accused of stealing cocoanuts, some of these having been taken, and he was pitched upon by the priests, who demanded that he die. These atrocities were no doubt instigated by the priests, who had secret reasons for opposing the influence of even chance foreigners, the priestly caste being the most conservative of all, and able also to most quickly arouse the latent ferocity in the human heart.

Another of the Pelews had already died of disease and exposure. The Pelew that was killed was taken to a canoe and tied, and then set adrift on the ocean. Soon after, a sailor, Milton Hulett, a young man of twenty and still quite strong, was also turned adrift in the same manner, still alive. The theory of the natives seemed to be that these foreigners came from the sea, and to the