battered boxes, in which the islanders stow away their small property.
A crowd of eager expectants had gathered round the crates of merchandise which our sailors had brought on shore, and the barter began.
The natives had swine, poultry, a few eggs, papayas, Taro, cocoa-nuts, and bananas to offer, while we had an assortment of knives, hatchets, saws, flints, fish-hooks, calico, linen, blue cloth, ribbons, linen-thread, needles, coarse tobacco, biscuit, red coral, glass beads, empty bottles, &c. &c.
This commerce was something higher than a mere barter—it had also a psychological interest of its own. Useful goods and tools found a much less demand than baubles and objects of personal adornment; and for a string of glass beads only fit to hang round the neck of a wife, or to put as a bracelet upon the arm of some little dusky daughter, provisions enough were given away to have supported an entire family for days.
Red and green seemed the colours most in demand, and the small beads were in far more request than the larger and heavier descriptions, even if these latter were more costly and neat. It seemed the women were not permitted to show themselves at market, which must have been a sore enough disappointment for many; but the men earnestly requested before closing with an offer to be permitted to carry off the coveted prizes, leaving their own articles of barter in pledge, apparently with the gallant attention of first of all obtaining
the advice and consent of their better halves. Hence it frequently happened that the article first selected was exchanged for some other widely different, or the whole bargain given up.
The women whom we afterwards saw in their huts were all tall and powerfully built, but very unattractive, the majority appearing prematurely old. The sole covering was a piece of gay-coloured calico tolerably wide, which they wore around their loins. Their lower limbs and faces were tattooed, the latter however with only a few cross-bars.
The two hampers of assorted articles, which was our stock in trade, were ere long nearly emptied, and as the sailors would have found it hard work to bring off the provisions we had purchased in our small boat, it was agreed to break up our improvised exchange, and return to Fáole with our valuable cargo of fresh provisions.[200]
While the barter was going on, the author of this narrative
occupied himself with making some anthropometrical measurements, and at the same time noting down a few cursory remarks respecting these interesting people.