one, the former feasting his cool eyes on the hundreds of new scientific
items which he was later to classify, the bulbous _oo-pa_, a sort of
vegetable cream-puff, the succulent _tuki-taki_, pale-green with red
dots, a natural cross between the banana and the cocoanut, having the
taste of neither, and the numerous crawling things, the whistling-ants
and shy, lamp-eyed lily-bugs (_anchoridae flamens_) who flashed their
signals as we passed.

Swank revelled in the rainbow colors about us, the flaming nabiscus
blossoms and the unearthly saffron of the _alova_ blooms, one inhale of
which, we were to learn, contained the kick of three old-fashioned
mint-juleps. Only Triplett's hard-boiled countenance reflected no
interest whatever in his surroundings.

It was doubtless this unintelligent dignity on our Captain's part,
coupled with what was left of his brass buttons and visor cap on which
the legend "Kawa" still glimmered faintly, which prompted the aborigines
to select him as our chief, an error which I at first thought of
correcting by some sort of dramatic tableau such as having Triplett
lie down and letting me place my foot on his Adam's apple, of which
he had a splendid specimen. On second thought, however, I decided that
it would be more modest to allow him any honors he might receive
together with the responsibilities attendant upon his position. It is
the invariable habit of South Sea Islanders, in the event of trouble,
to capture and hold as hostages the chief men of a tribe. Their heads,
with or without the original bodies, seem to have a peculiar value.

[Illustration: Babai and Her Taa-Taa]

[Illustration Note: BABAI AND HER TAA-TAA