silk mercer would handle a remarkably fine piece of satin; and
some of them went so far in their investigation as to apply the
olfactory organ.

Their singular behaviour almost led me to imagine that they never
before had beheld a white man; but a few moments' reflection
convinced me that this could not have been the case; and a more
satisfactory reason for their conduct has since suggested itself
to my mind.

Deterred by the frightful stories related of its inhabitants,
ships never enter this bay, while their hostile relations with
the tribes in the adjoining valleys prevent the Typees from
visiting that section of the island where vessels occasionally
lie. At long intervals, however, some intrepid captain will
touch on the skirts of the bay, with two or three armed boats'
crews and accompanied by interpreters. The natives who live near
the sea descry the strangers long before they reach their waters,
and aware of the purpose for which they come, proclaim loudly the
news of their approach. By a species of vocal telegraph the
intelligence reaches the inmost recesses of the vale in an
inconceivably short space of time, drawing nearly its whole
population down to the beach laden with every variety of fruit.
The interpreter, who is invariably a 'tabooed Kanaka'*, leaps
ashore with the goods intended for barter, while the boats, with
their oars shipped, and every man on his thwart, lie just outside
the surf, heading off the shore, in readiness at the first
untoward event to escape to the open sea. As soon as the traffic
is concluded, one of the boats pulls in under cover of the
muskets of the others, the fruit is quickly thrown into her, and