Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 2 (Stockdale).djvu/248

200 ing in his hand a bone fresh roasted, and devouring the remainder of the flesh still adhering to it, came up to Citizen Piron, and invited him to share his repast. He, supposing the savage was offering him a piece of some quadruped, accepted the bone, on which nothing but the tendinous parts were left; and, having shown it to me, I perceived that it belonged to the pelvis of a child of fourteen or fifteen years of age. The natives around us pointed out on a child the situation of this bone; confessed, without hesitation, that the flesh of it had furnished some one of their countrymen with a meal; and even gave us to understand, that they considered it as a dainty.

This discovery made us very uneasy for those of our people, who were still in the woods: shortly after, however, we had the pleasure to find ourselves all assembled together in the same spot, and no longer feared that some of us would fall victims to the barbarity of these islanders.

When we got on board our ship, being surprised at seeing none of the savages there, we were informed that there had been a great many, but that they had been driven away because they had stolen several things. Most of them had made off in their canoes; and the rest had jumped into the sea and swam ashore: two, however, were returned on board, not being able to swim fast