 their vigilance.
    The lively countenances of these people are wonderfully indicative of the
emotions of the soul, and the imperfections of their oral language are more than
compensated for by the nervous eloquence of their looks and gestures. I could
plainly trace, in every varying expression of their faces, all those passions
which had been thus unexpectedly aroused in their bosoms.
    It required no reflection to convince me, from what was going on, that the
injunction of Marnoo was not to be rashly slighted; and accordingly, great as
was the effort to suppress my feelings, I accosted Mehevi in a good-humoured
tone, with a view of dissipating any ill impression he might have received. But
the ireful angry chief was not so easily mollified. He rejected my advances with
that peculiarly stern expression I have before described, and took care by the
whole of his behaviour toward me to show the displeasure and resentment which he
felt.
    Marnoo, at the other extremity of the house, apparently desirous of making a
diversion in my favour, exerted himself to amuse with his pleasantries the crowd
about him; but his lively attempts were not so successful as they had previously
been, and, foiled in his efforts, he rose gravely to depart. No one expressed
any regret at this movement, so seizing his roll of tappa, and grasping his
spear, he advanced to the front of the pi-pi, and waving his hand in adieu to
the now silent throng, cast upon me a glance of mingled pity and reproach, and
flung himself into the path which led from the house. I watched his receding
figure until it was lost in the obscurity of the grove, and then gave myself up
to the most desponding reflections.
 

                                  Chapter XIX

    Reflections after Marnoo's Departure - Battle of the Pop-guns - Strange
    Conceit of Marheyo - Process of making Tappa.
 
The knowledge I had now obtained as to the intention of the savages deeply
affected me.
    Marnoo, I perceived, was a man who, by reason of his superior acquirements,
and the knowledge he possessed of the events which were taking place in the
different bays of the island, was held in no little estimation by the
inhabitants of the valley. He had been received with the most cordial welcome
and respect. The natives had hung upon the accents of his voice, and had
manifested the highest gratification at being individually noticed by him. And
yet, despite all this, a few words urged in my behalf, with the intent of
obtaining my release from captivity, had sufficed not only to banish all harmony
and goodwill, but, if I could believe what
