Note 4 — Chapter VI

Towards four o’clock we halted to take our repast. This wished-for moment was impatiently expected by my lieutenant, as the savage’s jar sent forth a very savoury smell. At last the desired moment arrived: we sat down on the grass. I stuck my poignard into the jar, which Alila had brought up to the fire, and I withdrew—an entire human hand!4 My poor lieutenant was as stupified as I was myself, so we remained a few minutes without saying a word. At last I gave a vigorous kick to the jar, and smashed it in pieces, so that the human flesh it contained was scattered over the ground, while still I held the fatal hand on the point of my dagger.