Muriel's especial fancy, and a luxury which we have been
without for some time. At last, by pointing to the fowls and picking
up some small egg-shaped stones, we managed to procure a few, though,
from the time it took to collect them, I should think the island must
have been scoured in the search for them.

Most of the natives seemed puzzled to comprehend why we had visited
the island at all. 'No sell brandy?'--'No.' 'No stealy men?'--'No.'
'No do what then?' Their knowledge of English was too limited to
enable us to make them understand that we were only making a voyage of
circumnavigation in a yacht.

It was now time to bid farewell to our amiable hosts and their
beautiful island. As we reached the landing-place, a small schooner,
which we had previously noticed in the distance, came close to the
shore, and a canoe put off from the island to meet it. We found that
the vessel was bringing back from Tahiti and other places some of the
inhabitants of the island, who had been away on a visit or in search
of work. The meeting of the reunited friends and relatives was in
some cases quite touching. Two women, in particular, sat and embraced
each other for nearly a quarter of an hour, without moving, but with
tears running down their faces.

All our gifts and purchases having been placed in the boat, and one or
two of us having embarked, she was shoved out over the wooden rollers
into the narrow channel, where she lay-to while the rest of the party
were brought alongside, one by one, in a frail canoe--an operation
which occupied some time, during which we had leisure once more to
admire the little bay I have already attempted to describe. We asked
the captain of the schooner, who spoke French, to give us a tow off to
the yacht, which he willingly consented to do, chatting cheerfully all
the time, but evidently fearful of approaching too close to the yacht,
and positively refusing our invitation to him to come on board. There
can be little doubt that he mistrusted our intentions, and feared we
might attempt to kidnap him and his crew; for the whites have, in too
many cases, behaved in a most villanous manner to the inhabitants of
these islands, who are, as a rule--to which there are of course
exceptions--a kind and gentle people. I think if the many instances of
the murder of ships' and boats' crews could be thoroughly sifted to
the bottom, it would be found that most of them were acts of reprisal
and revenge for brutal atr