Many ages ago, there reigned in Juam a king called Teei. This Teei's
succession to the sovereignty was long disputed by his brother
Marjora; who at last rallying round him an army, after many
vicissitudes, defeated the unfortunate monarch in a stout fight of
clubs on the beach.
In those days, Willamilla during a certain period of the year was a
place set apart for royal games and diversions; and was furnished
with suitable accommodations for king and court. From its peculiar
position, moreover, it was regarded as the last stronghold of the
Juam monarchy: in remote times having twice withstood the most
desperate assaults from without. And when Roonoonoo, a famous
upstart, sought to subdue all the isles in this part of the
Archipelago, it was to Willamilla that the banded kings had repaired
to take counsel together; and while there conferring, were surprised
at the sudden onslaught of Roonoonoo in person. But in the end, the
rebel was captured, he and all his army, and impaled on the tops of
the hills.
Now, defeated and fleeing for his life, Teei with his surviving
followers was driven across the plain toward the mountains. But to
cut him off from all escape to inland Willamilla, Marjora dispatched
a fleet band of warriors to occupy the entrance of the defile. Nevertheless, Teei the pursued ran faster than his pursuers; first gained the spot; and with his chiefs, fled swiftly down the gorge, closely hunted by Marjora's men. But arriving at the further end, they in vain sought to defend it. And after much desperate fighting, the main body of the foe corning up with great slaughter the fugitives were driven into the glen.
They ran to the opposite wall of cliff; where turning, they fought at
bay, blood for blood, and life for life, till at last, overwhelmed by
numbers, they were all put to the point of the spear.
With fratricidal hate, singled out by the ferocious Marjora, Teei
fell by that brother's hand. When stripping from the body the regal
girdle, the victor wound it round his own loins; thus proclaiming
himself king over Juam.
Long torn by this intestine war, the island acquiesced in the new
sovereignty. But at length a sacred oracle declared, that since the
conqueror had slain his brother in deep Willamilla, so that Teei
never more issued from that refuge of death; therefore, the same fate
should be Marjora's; for never, thenceforth, from that glen, should
he go forth; neither Marjora; nor any son of his girdled loins; nor
his son's sons; nor the uttermost scion of his race.
But except this denunciation, naught was denounced against the usurper; who, mindful of the tenure by which he reigned, ruled over the island for many moons; at his death bequeathing the girdle to his son.
In those days, the wildest superstitions concerning the interference
of the gods in things temporal, prevailed to a much greater extent
than at present. Hence Marjora himself, called sometimes in the
traditions of the island, The-Heart-of-Black-Coral, even unscrupulous
Marjora had quailed before the oracle. "He bowed his head," say the
legends. Nor was it then questioned, by his most devoted adherents, that had he dared to act counter to that edict, he had dropped dead, the very instant he went under the shadow of the defile. This persuasion also guided the conduct of the son of Marjora, and that of his grandson.
But there at last came to pass a change in the popular fancies
concerning this ancient anathema. The penalty denounced against the
posterity of the usurper should they issue from the glen, came
to be regarded as only applicable to an invested monarch, not to his
relatives, or heirs.
A most favorable construction of the ban; for all those related to
the king, freely passed in and out of Willamilla.
From the time of the usurpation, there had always been observed a
certain ceremony upon investing the heir to the sovereignty with the
girdle of Teei. Upon these occasions, the chief priests of the island
were present, acting an important part. For the space of as many
days, as there had reigned kings of Marjora's dynasty, the inner
mouth of the defile remained sealed; the new monarch placing the last
stone in the gap. This symbolized his relinquishment forever of all
purpose of passing out of the glen. And without this observance, was
no king girdled in Juam.