Iowa voter. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1867-1874, 1870-02-24
DINING WITH 4 CANNIBAL.


DINING WITH 4 CAHNIBAL.
BY HAnx TWAIN.
Ai ssv:;. ~ & - -
@Jusr at this Instant" continued the
King, 9 she reached him, and be was nv.
ed | Tor, q the shark opened his great Jaws,
she thrust her Kabooak betveen them,
noble girl propped them wide apart ran
hef arm down his throat, into his gullet
and recovered the gentleman's watch
Come here, child, and show the foreigner
the shark tooth-marks On your ahoulder."
Il re, see Il was a intrepid deed.
Il was noble 70 ave the pooe white man
from 20 ghagtly . death. And this u the
girl that taught yeu 70 odd bread ffuit to
he pei Z"
ayes, the same-the very same. TO
Ieur.f1Qer poi, you understand-nO 70
N sortA Twin show-l win make you
understand. In the Sandwich Islands and
tho Marquesas they make poi out Of taro-
root only. 1hen, you know, they would
mt dream Of. However, I Was going
70 ten You. The native takes the taro-
root, which 10 much like what yOQ describe
. turnip to be, and wraps II IN plAntain
leaves, and puts it in = hole u the ground
which he has lined with hot stones. don't
you see s-covers II up, lets It roast. Takes
lt:out pounds y IN great Stone dish with .
ffom time 70 time, TO thin II. He sets It
away (it il pol now) IN large calabashes.
Il Locks like 20 much -four paste. At
meals Ill the family and friends ut around
the calabash on their launches, Just - you
and are doing-except that the poor com.
mon Kdnak0s are naked, Of courss. Obi
no, my ffiend-because you 80 me, the
great King, in shirt collar and spectacles,
you must not imagine that the common
subject must ape grandeur and put on
clothes. They sit around the calabash,
and al eat from 1t with their hands. Each
inserts his fingers and stirs them briskly
around till portion Of the pulpy mass
adheres TO them-then tits back his head,
lets the suspended trail of pulp descend into
his open mouth-then his fingers follow,
and he sucks the remainder from them.%
Now II the pulp be thick, You can use ono
dnger If it be thinner, you must use two,
or three, or four fingers accordingly. But
~ I told you, it was this inspired girl
that invented the method Of thickening
four-dnger poi with bread fruit-and also
6avoring it with carcasees Of the delicious
bird which in your tongue you term the
grashopper."
Blessed girl -
blessed girl, indeed. But pardon me
-you-ycu seem distressed"
tis nothing. Poi, even In its native
nastiness, 10 only mildly delicious to mo
the addition to It of the wild game you
mention"
sAh, say no more. perceive. But try
this dish. It is fry Of bananas and plan
tains, with oranges sliced in it, and Just q
spoonful or 90 Of the delightful chirimoya
added to give it tone. I conceived the idea
OF adding the angleworms"
ut was inspiration"
II 80 regard it It 10 10 considered by
the great chiefs. To the common herd It
II t06u. That 10 to say prohibited. Now
- regards those missionaries" continued
the King, refectively scratching his head
with the fork which had presented him,
and which he had already learned to use q
good deal, though not always In strictly
legitimate way, "as regards those mis-
ssonaries. will say, that their landing
here was unexpected, but I fastened to
give them every protection. And / gave
them full privilege to teach. They were
the first whites that some Of my people
had seen, and Of course these simple ma
dives had natural curiosity to experiment
upon them! I could.not reasonably deny
them this little Qualification, though (
counseled them to practice - little cruelty
upon the strangers a. was compatible
with fair desire for information and the
Aecessity of wholesome amusement. They
removed Johnson's eanland that was .
thing which regretted seriously until it
was explained TO me that great chiefs
little dck child desired them 10 play with,
and II you could have seen how much
more contented and restful the poor
young thing was after II acquired them,
you would have felt how blessed thing
Il 10 to be able to contribute to the happi-
nen of even q little child"
ut was the impulse Of generous
hsart-it was spirit Of iberality - rare
- 1t il beautiful And how did johnson
like IT."
"Oh, johnson said it was the win Of
God. It Vas like johnson to ny that.
But the missionaries were right well
treated, on the whole. The natives tried
various interesting experiments upon
them, such - scorching them, and scald-
Ing them, and scalping them, and al that
soft Of thing, and killed one Of them
myoou, not IN mal1ce, 0ot oocAu0o hA0 D
curious caprice to rec how he would 60
with oniona He was . failure. Old and
tough. Underdone, my soahjns said
shade too venerable aid. Give me pun
Rency and tenderness for . combination.
Onions and infancy IL my idea of comfort.
But here comes dish which you viii
like, my good AdoIs-baked dog and yams
project your teeth in this direction, and
nip this slice from the contrivancc vhich
You call fork. A man, II he be anything
Of IN epicure, ID bound to like this dis6.
ItiA pr escsllssee the national dish-no
Svsw h complete without Il A gws. - .
grand FEAST my fiend-that u what the
word meanA Do you know that the edi.
Die dog Of this Land h . perfectly proper
and elegant beast for human consumpticni
Il b even %. He b newer, nssw allowed
60 touch meat. He b I'D wholly On pol
. strictly vegetable diet. He y reared In
tie house-1esps with hi ownsrh nals
% Ssmale-rides horsebock With them
travels IN the host with then-is their
1nsepeEable pet and companion. They
love him tsnderly IN li5s, and IN dsatk
tAey turn not away ftom him. They ct
H. NAAw ~&wE ksa h<a~ V~N ~ Si~~