offered me for my head and neck, and cocoa-nut milk to drink. We
wished for some bananas, and they immediately cut down a tree in order
to obtain a bunch. Cocoa-nuts were at the same time thrown down from
the trees, and a collection of fruit, poultry, and meat--the latter
consisting of the immemorial hog--was laid at our feet, as a present
from the chief. The rest of the natives brought us pearls, shells,
mother-of-pearl, small canoes, fish-hooks, young boobies, and all
sorts of things, for barter; but the chief himself refused any return
for his gift. Perhaps the greatest curiosity they offered us was about
six fathoms of fine twine, made from human hair. Before these islands
were visited by Europeans, this was the material from which
fishing-lines were made; but it is now rarely used, and is
consequently very difficult to procure. The young boobies they brought
us looked just like a white powder-puff, and were covered with down
far thicker and softer than any swan's down I ever saw.

The natives seemed quite _au fait_ in the matter of monetary
transactions and exchanges. For an English sovereign they would give
you change at the rate of five dollars. Chilian or United States'
dollars they accepted readily, but Brazilian currency they would not
look at. They were pleased with knives, beads, looking-glasses, and
picture papers I had brought on shore, and we did a brisk trade. We
experienced great difficulty in explaining to them that we wanted some
fresh eggs, Muriel's especial fancy, and a luxury which we have been
without for some time. At last, by pointing to the fowls and picking
up some small egg-shaped stones, we managed to procure a few, though,
from the time it took to collect them, I should think the island must
have been scoured in the search for them.

Most of the natives seemed puzzled to comprehend why we had visited