r size than it attains in the South Sea
Islands; we cooked it in various ways but failed to make it palatable.)

OBTAIN TWO OPOSSUMS.

And we obtained two fine live opossums, of a rare and singular kind
(Cuscus maculatus) for an axe apiece. They appeared to be quiet gentle
animals, until much irritated, when they bite hard. We fed them at first
on ripe coconuts, of which they were very fond; but latterly they became
accustomed to pea-soup. They spent most of the day in sleep in a corner
of the hen-coop where they were kept, each on its haunches with the tail
coiled up in front, the body arched, and the head covered by the fore
paws and doubled down between the thighs; at night, however, they were
more active and restless, their large reddish-yellow eyes being then
obscured by the dilated pupil, which during the day appears as a narrow
vertical line. One was frequently taken on deck towards evening and
allowed to climb about the rigging, moving very slowly, and endeavouring
to get up as high as possible.

The natives resemble those seen at Brumer islands (from which we were
distant about thirty-six miles) so closely that I saw no points regarding
them deserving of separate notice, and their language is the same,
judging from a small vocabulary of about seventy words. The only
manufactured article new to us was a small wooden pillow* about a foot
long and six inches high, with a slight concavity above to receive the
neck of the person using it. Both women and children came off with the
men to traffic with us and look at the ship, but none could be tempted to
come on board, although they paddled up alongside without the slightest
hesitation. We were frequently solicited to accompany them on shore, but
no one was allowed to leave the ship.

(*Footnote. Wooden pillows are also in use in some of the islands of
Polynesia and in New Caledonia.)

CUL DE SAC DE L'ORANGERIE.

The northern shores of the Cul de Sac are low and wooded, forming an
extensive tract of level land stretching backwards towards the mountains,
with a large opening at its eastern end, which is probably the mouth of a
great river. The Bramble was sent to examine this bay, but the shoalness
of the water, and the unfavourable nature of the weather prevented the
completion of this work. During her absence a large canoe was seen in the
bay, differing from all those hitherto observed in having a triangular or
lateen sail set with the apex downwards, thus rese