Deschard Of Oneaka by Louis Becke

(The native pronunciation of Kuria is like "Courier."--L.B.)

Among the Gilbert Group--that chain of low-lying sandy atolls annexed by the British Government two years ago--there is one island that may be said to be both fertile and beautiful; yet for all this Kuria--for so it is called by the natives of the group generally--has remained almost uninhabited for the past forty years. Together with the lagoon island of Aranuka, from which it is distant about six miles, it belongs to the present King of Apamama,2 a large and densely populated atoll situated half a degree to the eastward. Thirty years ago, however, the grandfather of the lad who is now the ruler of Apamama had cause to quarrel with the Kurians, and settled the dispute by invading their island and utterly destroying them, root and branch. To-day it is tenanted only by the young king's slaves.