natives, with whom a very brisk business was going forward. Some brought
palm-oil, and others gold, which they exchanged principally for guns,
cloth, and powder. We here saw the gold tested by the "blackstone;" a
peculiar kind of mineral, black, with a slight tinge of blue. If, when the
gold is rubbed upon this stone, it leaves a reddish mark, it is regarded
as a satisfactory proof of its purity; otherwise, there is more or less
alloy. The trader is obliged to depend upon the judgment and integrity of
a native in his employ, who is skilful in trying gold. The average profit,
acquired by the foreign traders in their dealings with the natives, is not
less than a hundred per cent. on the principal articles, and much more on
the smaller ones. No inconsiderable portion of this, however, is absorbed
by the numerous "dashes;" in the first place, to the king, then to the
head trade-men, the canoe-men, and all others whose agency can anywise
influence the success of the business.

The masters or supercargoes of English vessels receive, besides their
regular pay of six pounds per month, a commission of five per cent. on all
sales; they being responsible for any debts which they may allow the
natives to contract.

12.--Ashore at Cape Lahon, the scene of the recent hostilities between the
French and the natives. We landed in large heavy canoes, flat-bottomed and
square-sided. The town is built upon a narrow point of land between the
sea and a lake, just at the outlet of two rivers. On the side next the
sea, you discern only the bamboo walls of the town, and a few cocoa-nut
trees, scattered along the sandy beach; but on the lake side, there is one
of the loveliest views imaginable. The quiet lake and its wooded islands;
the thousand of green cocoa-nut trees, laden with fruit, and shadowing all
the shore; the rivers, broad and dark, stretching away on either hand,
until lost among the depths of the forest, which doubtless extends into