In this attitude, so far as Marama himself and the majority of his people were concerned, we were quite justified, for they were our warm friends.

But in the case of the sorcerers, the priests and all their rascally and superstitious brotherhood, we were by no means justified.

They had not forgiven Bastin his sacrilege or for his undermining of their authority by the preaching of new doctrines which, if adopted, would destroy them as a hierarchy.
Nor had they forgiven Bickley for shooting one of their number, or any of us for our escape from the vengeance of their god.
So it came about that they made a plot to seize us all and hale us off to be sacrificed to a substituted image of Oro, which by now they had set up.

They knew exactly where we slept upon the rock; indeed, our fire showed it to them and so far they were not afraid to venture, since here they had been accustomed for generations to lay their offerings to the god of the Mountain.

Secretly on the previous night, without the knowledge of Marama, they had carried two more canoes to the borders of the lake.