we were partaking of breakfast a big cloud of smoke arose from the
woods situated at the eastern extremity of the bay, causing us to
surmise that the dead were at that moment undergoing the process of
cremation; but we made no attempt to investigate, leaving the savages to
their own devices for that day, and proceeding to the shipyard as usual
immediately after breakfast.

Shortly after midday our two savages hove in sight, making their way
down the cliff path to the shipyard, having evidently followed the path
over the plateau which we had beaten in our frequent passages to and fro
between the two bays. They displayed no fear of us, approaching us
without the slightest hesitation, but exhibiting more curiosity than any
natives with whom I had thus far been brought into contact. They seemed
to be filled with astonishment at the whiteness of our skins when,
following our usual custom, we discarded our scanty clothing and plunged
into the sea for a few minutes before partaking of our midday meal; and
did not appear to be able to understand how it was that, while our
faces, necks, hands, and arms were almost as dark as their own skins,
the remaining portions of our bodies, ordinarily protected from the sun
by our clothing, should be so very much lighter. They were not
oppressed by any feeling of false modesty or bashfulness, but examined
us minutely at close quarters, jabbering together with the utmost
animation all the while and lightly running their fingers over our arms
and necks, with the apparent purpose of finding the join in the
differently coloured portions of our skin.

This was all very well, of course, and sufficiently amusing to all
concerned; but now that these two savages had come to us we quite
intended to make use of them, and allow them to work for their living.
Therefore, as soon as we had resumed our clothing, Murdock undertook the
task of making known our intentions and wishes to our dusky friends.
And the way he did it was amusing enough. In common with others of his
kind he had repeatedly been brought into contact with foreigners of
various nationalities, both civilised and savage, but he had one simple
method of communicating with them all, a method which he was firmly
convinced must be efficacious in exact proportion to the measure of
intelligence possessed by the persons with whom he desired to
communicate; and that method was to speak to the stranger in broken
English! For example, he propo