"The islands to the west are those discovered by Cook, Vancouver, and Bougainville, are they not?"
"They are marked Polynesia in the charts."
"Do you know of any European settlements on these islands?"
"Well, there is a fort of the Hudson's Bay Company on Vancouver's Island, but that is a long way north; and, I believe, a factory has recently been anchored in New Zealand, but that is a long way south."
"And what are the principal islands between?"
"There is New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, the Friendly Islands, the Societies' Islands, the Marquesas, Tahite, and the Pelew Islands; but each navigator gives them a new name, so that it is hard to say which is which; all you can do is to say that there is an island in latitude so and so and longitude so and so, but the name is almost out of the question."
"And the natives?"
"Some of them are remarkably tame, and trade freely with strangers; but others have strongly marked cannibal propensities, and dote upon a white-skin feast when they can get one."
Here Becker shuddered, and uttered an exclamation of horror.
"That would be a terrible fate, Willis."