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commanders.
came empty handed. Bananas, yams, potatoes, sugar-cane, nets, idols, &c., were offered for sale, and some were even thrown into the boats, leaving their visitors to make what return they chose. Among the swimmers there were a great many females, who were equally or more anxious to get into the boats than the men, and made use of every persuasion to induce the crew to admit them. But to have acceded to their entreaties would have encumbered the party, and subjected them to depredations. As it was, the boats were so weighed down by persons clinging to them, that for personal safety the crew were compelled to have recourse to sticks to keep them off, at which none of the natives took offence, but regained their position the instant the attention of the persons in the boats was called to some other object. Just within the gunwales there were many small things that were highly prized by the swimmers; and the boats being brought low in the water by the crowds hanging to them, many of these articles were stolen, notwithstanding the most vigilant attention of their crews, who had no means of recovering them, the marauders darting into the water, and diving the moment they had committed a theft. The women were no less active in these piracies than the men; for if they were not the actual plunderers, they procured the opportunity for others, by engrossing the attention of the seamen by their caresses and ludicrous gestures. * * * * * * All those in the water were naked, and only here and there, on the shore, a thin cloak of the native cloth was to be seen. Some had their faces painted black, some red; others black and white, or red and white, in the ludicrous manner practised by our clowns; and two demon-like monsters were painted entirely black. It is not easy to imagine the picture that was presented by this motley crowd, unrestrained by any authority or consideration for their visitors, all hallooing to the extent of their lungs, and pressing upon the boats with all sorts of grimaces and gestures. It was found impossible to land where it was at first intended; the boats, therefore, rowed a little to the northward, followed by the multitude, and there effected a disembarkation, aided by some of the natives, who helped the party over the rocks with one hand, while they picked their pockets with the other. It was no easy matter to penetrate the dense multitude, and much less practicable to pursue a thief through the labyrinth of figures that thronged around. The articles stolen were consequently ns irretrievably lost here, as they were before in the hands of the divers. * * * * Among the foremost of the crowd were two men, crowned with pelican’s feathers, who, if they were not chiefs, assumed a degree of authority, and with the two demons above mentioned attempted to clear the way by striking at the feet of the mob; careful, however, so to direct their blows, that they should not take effect. Without their assistance, if would have been almost impossible to land: the mob cared very little for threats; a musket presented at them had no effect beyond the moment it was levelled, and was less efficacious than some water
