midnight
The procession was led off by two venerable-looking savages , each provided with a spear , from the end of which streamed a pennon of milk-white tappa . After them went several youths , bearing aloft calabashes of poee-poee ; and followed in their turn by four stalwart fellows , sustaining long bamboos , from the tops of which hung suspended , at least twenty feet from the ground , large baskets of green bread-fruit . Then came a troop of boys , carrying bunches of ripe bananas , and baskets made of woven leaflets of cocoa-nut boughs , filled with the young fruit of the tree , the naked shells , stripped of their husks , peeping forth from the verdant wicker-work that surrounded them . Last of all came a burly islander , holding over his head a wooden trencher , in which lay disposed the remnants of our midnight feast , hidden from view , however , by a covering of bread-fruit leaves . Astonished as I was at this exhibition , I could not avoid smiling at its grotesque appearance , and the associations it naturally called up . Mehevi , it seemed , was bent on replenishing old Marheyo 's larder , fearful , perhaps , that without this precaution his guests might not fare as well as they could desire . As soon as I descended from the pi-pi , the procession formed anew , enclosing us in its centre ; where I remained , part of the time carried by Kory-Kory , and occasionally relieving him from his burden by limping along with a spear .