it, when
Macco pointed to the other dish.

"Eat, eat; good!" he said.

"Do you take some of it," I observed, unwilling to begin.

He immediately did so, swallowing a good portion.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You know; what sailor call `squid,'" he answered. "Dem very good."

I now guessed that it was octopus, or ink-fish, the favourite food of
the sperm whale. I would rather have kept to the bread-fruit and rice;
but Oliver was not so particular, and took a little with some red
pepper. On his pronouncing it very good, I followed his example, and
found it far more palatable than I had expected, and I doubt not very
nutritious. I remembered having heard that it was dangerous, after a
long fast, to eat much, and I therefore took but little. Oliver also
was equally abstemious. Macco, however, laughed at my warning, and very
soon finished off the contents of the dishes.

We hoped, from the hospitable way we were entertained, that we should
continue to be treated equally well. After we had finished our repast,
Oliver and I felt very sleepy. The chief seeing this, made signs to us
that we might go into the bamboo house and rest. It was very clean and
neat; a sort of sofa being on one side, on which there was room for
Oliver and me to lie down, one at one end, and one at the other--with
our legs somewhat drawn up, to be sure, as the whole length was not more
than six feet. We must have slept there the whole night; for when we
got up we found the sun just rising, while the chief and his crew were
turning their faces towards Mecca--or where they supposed it to be--and
offering up their morning prayers. By this we knew that they were
Mohammedans: such, indeed, is the religion of a large number of the
people of the archipelago inhabiting the sea-coasts.

We had time to look about us, and examine the strange craft we had got
on board. She had no masts, but the sails were hoisted on huge
triangles, which could be lowered at pleasure. Her anchor, too, was of
curious construction: it consisted of a tough, hooked piece of timber,
which served as the fluke or hook, being strengthened by twisted ratans,
which bound it to the shank; while the stock was formed of a large flat
stone, also secured by ratans to the shank. I observed that all the
crew were armed; and on a small piece of timber in the bows a small
swivel gun was placed, a similar piece being fixed in the after-part of
the vessel. The cable also was formed