Wednesday, 21.—We returned His Majesty's visit this morning at eight o'clock. He received us on the outside of his hut, and seated me on a stone at his right hand, but immediately after a few words had been exchanged, he made signs to us to return to our own residence; where on our arrival, we found he had sent a sheep, with a view of giving us a sumptuous feast. His Majesty, accompanied by his chiefs, soon after joined us, and they immediately proceeded to the operation of killing the sheep, which was conducted in the following manner: The animal having been first hung up by the hind legs, its throat was cut, care being taken, in effecting this, not to wound the windpipe. The blood, as it flowed, was caught in a calabash, and then given to the priest, probably to be reserved for some religious ceremony. The next process was to skin the animal, in doing which the operator commenced with a fore leg, then the corresponding hind one, then the other fore leg, and so on; he then proceeded to the abdomen, and afterwards completed the operation in the usual manner. The gall-bag and bladder were now extracted and thrown away; after which the whole of the remaining viscera were removed and placed aside for subsequent use. A large portion of the flesh from one of the shoulders was now presented to the King, who cut it into the form of a long string, beginning at the outside, and proceeding to the centre. This he wound round a stick, and held over a blazing fire, until half broiled; and, then dividing it into a number of small pieces, distributed them to the party around him, doing myself the honour of presenting me with the first piece. The remainder of the animal was, in the next place, taken within our hut, where the stomach and intestines, without any other preparation than imperfectly squeezing out their contents, were warmed over the fire, and then, in nearly a raw state, divided among the natives, who ate them with great relish, the King receiving his portion with the rest. His Majesty now presented our party with a leg, shoulder, breast, and small saddle, and afterwards divided what remained among his chiefs, reserving the head for himself, which, after being well scorched, he ordered to be taken to his hut.
A more curious part of this singular feast remains to be described. On opening the animal, it was found to be with young, when the uterus, containing two lambs, each about six inches long, was, as a particular mark of favour or respect, placed in my hands: but, not appreciating the gift so highly as probably had been expected, I immediately laid it aside. After the departure of the King, it was a second time brought to me, and I now contrived, by shaking my head, and other demonstrations, to make them comprehend that I did not intend to make use of it, and that it was entirely at their service. This was, without doubt, very agreeable intelligence; for, having pricked the sac, to allow the liquor to drain away, and laid it for a short time before the fire, the whole was divided into portions, and eaten up apparently with avidity and delight.
The above meal was purely carnivorous, for neither yams nor palm-wine were introduced as accompaniments; in the afternoon, however, his Majesty made us another short visit, and sent a quantity of wine. We offered the natives salt to their meat, but they refused it with every sign of disgust, and even wanted to throw away our little store of this, to us, so necessary a condiment. They also shewed an equal dislike to tobacco; and, when one of our party made preparations for smoking a cigar, the priest held out his rod as if in prohibition, while others endeavoured to prevent him from lighting it. Canning, indeed, who had witnessed more frequently the practice of smoking on board, shewed less aversion.
Though we were at a considerable distance from the settlement, we could hear the reports of the morning and evening gun; for the first two or three days, the natives appeared, or pretended to be, much alarmed at this, as they halloed for some time after. They would frequently come up to us, levelling a stick like a musket, and accompany the action with bang! bang! We had reason to consider them much afraid of every species of fire-arms, and I cannot but think it would be good policy to keep this apprehension alive, rather than to endeavour to remove it by attempts to explain the principles of their action, and to familiarise them with the effects. In this respect, I deem the general practice of our voyagers and travellers to be decidedly faulty, since the superior advantages which fire-arms give, may be said to constitute our chief compensation for deficiency of numbers, and thus enable us to preserve that vast pre-eminence which we possess over the uncivilised inhabitants of newly-discovered countries. If the policy of our Government requires an intercourse with savage nations, both prudence and humanity justify our retaining the means of commanding that intercourse, by the superiority of our modes of defence; for, in the event of hostile collision, the numbers of the savages, possessed as they are, individually, of physical strength and bodily activity, at least equal to our own, could scarcely fail to be overwhelming. This also agrees with Vaillant's opinion, for he remarks, that, "when you travel among savages, you ought never to employ your arms, or shew the use of them, except to render them a service, either by procuring them game, or destroying such ferocious animals as are obnoxious to them."—Vaillant, vol. ii. p. 127.
About ten o'clock this evening, a great noise from persons talking commenced in the village, accompanied, at times, by loud hallooing, and a clattering of a kind of rattle-boxes, which many of the natives wear around the neck, and which somewhat resembles the upper half of the leathern-case of a spirituous-liquor bottle, within which is appended a clapper made generally of a sheep's jawbone. This noise, the meaning of which I could not comprehend, continued, with little interruption, throughout the night.
Thursday, Nov. 22.—Soon after breakfast, the King sent for us to his hut, and regaled us with palm-wine, poured out by the fair hand of a young female, whom my companions pronounced the most beautiful they had seen in this island, and whom we supposed to be his Majesty's favourite wife. On this occasion, he took the opportunity of reminding us of the presents he expected to receive from Captain Owen, and directed some of his chiefs to shew us those which he intended to offer in return, consisting of sheep, fowls, &c. &c. We were then conducted to our hut, and given to understand, by signs, that it was his Majesty's pleasure we should forthwith pack up our luggage, and return to our settlement. We thought, however, it would be more pleasant to take an early dinner first, and with this intention commenced the preparation of a kind of Irish stew, consisting of mutton and yams: being defective in the latter article, we requested a further supply; but this did not please our hosts, and it was intimated that we should find plenty at the end of our journey. We still, however, urged our wishes, when, at length, they brought us a couple of pieces. We could not avoid expressing dissatisfaction at this scanty supply, when they began to assume a very savage and sulky appearance; even our friend Canning arose with a menacing countenance, and laying hold of his spears, threatened to compel our immediate departure. It would have been imprudent to continue to irritate them at this juncture, and at best have only exposed our own weakness: we therefore thought we should most preserve our dignity, and, at the same time, retain a just ground of complaint of their want of hospitality, by giving way to their wishes, yet not without evident signs of our high dissatisfaction. I believe they had, subsequently, reason to repent of their conduct, as Capt. Owen afterwards treated them with apparent coldness, and probably abridged his intended presents: not but that they were amply remunerated, although the measure of it fell short of their own expectations. We took our dinner deliberately, notwithstanding this urgency, and then commenced our journey, accompanied by Canning and another chief; besides an old man, who had resided in the hut with us, carrying our luggage. We were soon joined by the persons who carried the presents intended for Captain Owen. We also met the King, but he, instead of accompanying us, as we had expected, went off immediately to his own residence, bearing on his shoulders a quantity of wood, for the use, as we supposed, of the royal household; we shook hands with his Majesty on taking our final leave.
As on the journey up the country, we had, on our return, great numbers of idle people following us, either from motives of curiosity or interest, and teazing us to give them palm-wine, iron, &c. The road, in various places, was extremely rugged and narrow, with steep declivities from the sides to the centre, and very slippery from the rain that had fallen in the morning. We again crossed two streams, the chief of which, although broad and rapid, was not sufficiently deep to be dignified with the title of a river. Towards evening, we arrived at King Cove, where, proceeding to the beach, we washed the clay from our trowsers, and then went to our quarters for the night.
The hut in which we took up our residence, consisted of a wooden roof, thatched with palm-leaves, and supported on stancheons of wood; the leaves, on all sides, approaching within two or three feet of the ground, indeed so low, that it made it very inconvenient to get in or out; for, unless great caution was observed, there was considerable risk of getting wounded by the prickles on the leaves of the palm-tree. Previously to its becoming dark, we were invited to drink palm-wine on the outside of our hut; and, afterwards retiring within, our native companions employed themselves busily enough in roasting and eating their yams, while we enjoyed the refreshing beverage of tea. We then lay down for the night; but, alas! not to sleep; for, although our hut was not very large, it contained about twenty persons of different sexes and ages, who were, of course, pretty closely stowed: and from its not being closed at the sides, with much thunder and lightning taking place, accompanied by high wind and heavy rain, which continued throughout the greater part of the night, the latter beat in under the roof, and also drove the smoke of three fires towards us, until we were nearly suffocated. It will be conceived, that our situation was not the most enviable; those near the outside were exposed to the pitiless storm; while they who occupied the centre, where we had spread our hammocks, were necessarily oppressed with heat and smoke. About two o'clock, some of the natives, finding it impossible to sleep, got up and amused themselves until daylight in conversation, and roasting yams on the fire.
Friday, 23.—At day-break, the whole of the natives rose and commenced their yam feast, succeeded by plentiful supplies of palm-wine. As the heavy winds and rain shewed no appearance of abating, we began to doubt whether we should get on board to-day; however, about eight o'clock, it moderated, and before noon, the weather was sufficiently favourable to induce us to make the attempt. Having taken our seats in the canoes, together with the chiefs who accompanied us, a party of the natives urged them over the surf, and away we paddled for the ship, which we reached in less than a couple of hours. Before getting on board, however, we were treated with a specimen of eager covetousness and want of decorum in our late friends; for, instead of waiting to allow us to get up first, or offering to assist us, no sooner did the canoe touch the ship, which she happened to do under the main-chains, than away they all started with their presents, leaving us to bring the boat to the gangway, and get out as well as we could; they even gave up all care for the safety of the canoe; the consequence of which was, that they left us adrift in it, and the commanding officer was obliged to send a boat to bring her alongside again.
Saturday, 24.—Having now spent some days in what may be termed the domestic privacy of the island, it will be inferred that I have become more intimately acquainted with the character of its inhabitants, who may justly be considered as constituting one of the most extraordinary races of savages at this time in existence. I shall, therefore, avail myself of this opportunity of developing farther than has yet been done in the preceding pages, whatever occurred to me as being most interesting in their manners, habits, customs, and peculiarities. This I shall follow up with some details respecting the natural history and productions of the island; which, however imperfectly they may be treated, will probably be deemed worthy of attention as subjects of scientific research. In these descriptions, I must, however, plead strongly for the indulgence of my readers, as many serious obstacles have opposed themselves to the inquiry after satisfactory information; among which, none have been more uncompromising than those experienced in acquiring a knowledge of the language; for, although we have been in constant communication with the natives, at present so little progress has been made, that our attempts in this respect may be said to have almost entirely proved abortive. We have, indeed, some reason to believe that the natives are desirous of throwing impediments in our way, since, notwithstanding they evince much quickness in catching words of our language, repeating the orders issued by the officers, and are also possessed of considerable power of mimicry, they shew little inclination to communicate their own terms or names. It has not unfrequently happened, that when, according to the usual custom of persons who are not conversant with each other's language, we touched, significantly, any thing which we were desirous of knowing, they used different words in reply, as if with the intention of confusing us; and, again, when we believed that we had ascertained the right name from one source, on inquiring from others, a very different word was given; so that we eventually remained in doubt as to the proper one. The few small vocabularies we have succeeded in collecting, seem to prove that there are distinct dialects, or idioms, among the different tribes. This is particularly exemplified in the case of the numerals; for not only are different words used to express the same number, but peculiar modes of counting are made use of—for instance, one tribe, after counting five in the usual way, proceeds to ten and twenty; while another, after going on progressively to ten, starts at once to twenty. The language itself is, generally speaking, harmonious, most of the words terminating in vowels, as will be perceived from the subjoined vocabulary, which is as correct as circumstances would admit of our obtaining.