way again, we were soon close up to where the savages stood. We
all jumped out except one man, who remained to take care of the boat,
and stepped boldly in among the blacks, putting out our hands to show
that we wished to be friends. They seemed to understand what we meant,
and several of their chief men shook our hands in return; when we made
signs that we were hungry and thirsty, four or five of them ran off, and
quickly returned with some water in calabashes, and some baskets with
cooked meat and yams. The people seemed to live in plenty, for we saw a
number of funny little pigs running about, and two or three girls
carrying them in their arms and talking to them, and caressing them,
just as an English girl does her doll. We were too hungry, however,
just then to think of that, or anything else, and sitting down on the
grass, fell to on the provisions the blacks had brought us. The food
soon restored our spirits, and we began to hope that things would not be
as bad as we expected. Still, we could not help thinking of our poor
shipmates who had remained on the wreck, and whom we felt sure must all
have been drowned. The people too, seemed not so ill-looking, and much
more good-natured, than we had at first thought.

"Their hair was frizzled out, and they had earrings and necklaces, but
very little clothing, except a petticoat of long grass or leaves round
the waist. They were not black either, but rather a dark chocolate
colour, with broad long noses, with the tips hooking down almost over
the upper lip.

"Their houses are curious. First they were built on posts, on the top
of which the flooring was placed. On each post below the flooring was a
large flat disc, this was to prevent the snakes and rats from getting
into the houses. Above the flooring, after the poles had risen some
distance, they were bent over and covered thickly with grass or cocoanut
leaves. Some were small, and others as much as twenty feet long and
twelve feet wide. They had no doors, but were entered by a trap through
the flooring.

"As there are numerous snakes in the country, the steps or ladder by
which the trap is reached does not go up to it, but only rises from the
ground for a sufficient height to enable a person to lift himself in by
his elbows. The upper part of this curious ladder consists merely of a
polo resting on two forked sticks, and a plank with one end leaning on
it and the other on the ground. When a person want