n our oars while the mate held up bottles and bits of iron
hoops, beads and knives, and a few old clothes, to show them that we
wished to trade. After a considerable time they seemed to understand
what we wanted, and some of them going away returned with numbers of
stuffed birds of a delicate yellow with long tails. We made signs that
only those who wanted to trade must come near us. At last several came
wading into the water bringing their birds. They set a high price on
them, and we only bought a dozen or so. As the rest of the people
behaved in as threatening a manner as before, as soon as the trading was
over we pulled off, not wishing to risk an encounter with them.

The doctor said that the birds were birds of paradise, and that they
were such as the ladies of England wore in their hats. The curious
thing was that none of the birds had feet.

"Of course not," said the second mate, when I pointed this out to him;
"they say that the birds come down from the skies and live in the air,
and as they never perch, they don't want feet. That's why they're
called birds of paradise."

The doctor laughed. "That's a very old notion," he remarked, "but it's
a wrong one notwithstanding, and has long since been exploded. They
have legs and claws like other birds, though the natives cut them off
and dry the birds as these have been over a hot fire. It's the only way
they have of preserving them."

The captain said we were very right not to land, as the natives might
have been tempted to cut us off for the sake of possessing themselves of
the articles in our boat.

As we sailed along the coast the country seemed to be thickly populated,
and the boat was frequently sent to try and land, but we always met with
the same inhospitable reception. The moment we drew near the shore the
black-skinned natives would rush down, apparently to prevent our
landing.

This was a great disappointment, for the captain was anxious to obtain
fresh provisions, as several of the men, from having lived a long time
on salt meat, were suffering from scurvy. Curiously enough, we, who had
been in the boat, were free from it. At one place, however, we traded
with the natives, and bought several more of the stuffed paradise birds,
and a number of live lories, which we kept in cages, and beautiful
little creatures they were. Our hope was to carry them safely home,
but, either from improper food or change of climate, they all shortly
died.