as being more congenial to his tastes
and education, than that of the feathered denizens of the forest. Be
this however as it may, "Monsieur Paul," (as he called himself), from
that time took up his abode with us, and though he would sometimes
disappear for days together, he was sure to come back at last, when, if
he found the door and windows closed, (as sometimes happened), he would
scream, and hurrah for "Sheneral Shackson," until he gained admittance.
One circumstance, which I am sorry to say throws some shade of suspicion
upon the pure disinterestedness of his motives, is, that he generally
went off at the commencement of fine weather, and returned a little
before a storm. This was so uniformly the case, that Max used to
prophesy the character of the weather by his movements, and often, when
to our eyes there was not the slightest indication of a change, he would
say--"There comes Monsieur--look-out for a storm presently"--and it was
rarely that he proved mistaken in such predictions.

The second day after our removal, there was a gale, in which great trees
were blown down or torn up by the roots. Though shaken by the force of
the wind, the cabin was too firmly built to permit any apprehension of
its being overthrown; and there were no trees of large size near it, by
the fall of which it could be endangered: but we should scarcely have
felt safe in our former dwelling.

We now improved every pleasant day to the utmost, in completing our
preparations for the period of heavy rains, which Arthur declared to be
close at hand. Browne and Morton made a fish-pond by building a dam of
loose stones across the rapids below the fall, just where the stream
entered the lake. It was soon well-stocked, without any trouble on our
part, with fish resembling roach and perch, numbers of which were
carried over the fall, and prevented by the dam from escaping into the
lake. We also collected a large quantity of bread-fruit bark, and of
the fibrous netting which binds the stalk of the cocoa-nut leaf to the
trunk, to be worked up in various ways. This singular fabric, which in
texture somewhat resembles coarse cotton cloth, is often obtained from
the larger trees in strips two or three feet wide. It is strong and
durable, and is used by the natives for making bags, and for other
similar purposes. Garments too, are sometimes made from it, though for
that purpose tappa is preferred. While the leaves are young and tender,
this r