e--men, women, and children--were on the beach to
receive us. They were of a light-brown colour, and wore very little
clothing. The women had short petticoats, and some of the men wore
cloaks, besides cloths round their loins. These clothes, I found, were
like thick paper, and are made out of the bark of a tree called the
paper-mulberry tree. It is steeped in water, and beat into cloth with
wooden mallets by the women, and afterwards dyed of various colours.
The men were armed with clubs and spears, but seemed very friendly.
There were several houses near the shore, built of as poles made from
young cocoa-nut trees, and thatched with large leaves. The sides were
made of mats, which are drawn up in the daytime to let the wind blow
through them, as the climate is very hot in winter as well as summer.
As soon as the goods were landed, they were carried up to a house near
the beach, which was the natives' trade-house. Here they brought all
sorts of things which they thought we should want, mostly roots and
fruits and vegetables and hogs, of which there seemed to be a large
supply. Mr Hudson, seeing all things ready, began a brisk trade.
While it was going on, Bill Sniggs, who had come in the boat with me,
asked me to take a stroll with him, as he was sure that we should be
back again to go off in the boat.

"But it is against orders for any one to quit the beach without leave,"
said I.

"Oh, not here; the people are friendly, and nothing was said about it,"
he answered.

"True enough, no harm can come of it, and I don't mind going a little
way," I said, though I knew well enough that the order stood good for
this place and all others. Still I wanted to see the country, it looked
so very tempting.

We walked on and on; now we climbed up a hill, from which we could see
the ship, and then crossed a valley, and went along a clear stream up to
a beautiful waterfall. We passed a good many cottages of the sort I
have described, and the people came out and offered us fruits and cooked
roots, like sweet potatoes and perk. We couldn't help going into some
of the houses, the people were so kind; besides, we were tired, as we
hadn't taken such a walk since we came aboard the _Rose_. We neither of
us had a watch, and never thought how the time went. When we were
rested, we got up, and, thanking the people of the house for their
kindness, went on our way, the country seeming more and more beautiful.

At last I said to B