THERE were some ill-natured people--tell-tales--it seemed, in Tamai; and hence there was a deal of mystery about getting up the dance.
An hour or two before midnight, Rartoo entered the house, and, throwing robes of tappa over us, bade us follow at a distance behind him; and, until out of the village, hood our faces. Keenly alive to the adventure, we obeyed. At last, after taking a wide circuit, we came out upon the farthest shore of the lake. It was a wide, dewy, space; lighted up by a full moon, and carpeted with a minute species of fern growing closely together. It swept right down to the water, showing the village opposite, glistening among the groves.
Near the trees, on one side of the clear space, was a ruinous pile of stones many rods in extent; upon which had formerly stood a tem
