carried out, the tyrant fell. When the news of the slaying of the king by Rau became known, satisfaction was a much more predominant feeling than anger or sorrow among the subjects and allies of the late monarch.
It happened, however, that when the king was slain a drop of the royal blood fell upon a coco-nut which was lying near upon the ground. A man named Iti, who was passing by the place and felt hungry, took up the coco-nut, wiped off the blood-spot, and devoured the contents of the nut. This was an act which was reprehensible in the extreme from the point of view of a South Sea Islander, not only because the nut had become “prohibited” on account of the defiling stain, but because the nut had also become “sacred” from contact with the holy blood of a royal person. This act of desecration had been observed by a female slave, who was so indignant with the impiety of Iti that she resolved to compass his destruction. She had heard that a band of outlaws, who were fierce cannibals, was concealed in a cavern a few miles from the spot where the king had been slain, so she resolved to risk her life by going to them and begging them to lay an ambuscade for Iti at a certain spot on the next day. This they promised to do, and the woman then returned
