8i2 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



found that another member of the party, who had also been house- 

 hunting, had found one in the town which was much better fitted for 

 our use. The owner and occupant was willing to vacate and rent to 

 us, but he could not talk business on Sunday. The next morning a 

 satisfactory bargain was made, and after our business at the custom- 

 house had been dispatched we took possession and prepared to land 

 our apparatus and furniture. This work went on slowly, for our house 

 is at some distance from the water, and, as there are no horses or carts, 

 everything was carried up. We found labor very cheap, and, while 

 our nickel cents and five-cent pieces are not regarded as money, a big 

 copper cent is highly appreciated. The pastor of one of the churches 

 kindly exchanged some of our silver money for a pocketful of them 

 from the contribution-box, and a large force of natives was soon hired 

 and set at work. They quickly picked out all the lighter and smaller 

 packages, and a long procession of men and boys and girls was soon 

 on its way to the house, marching like a column of ants along the nar- 

 row path from the landing, laden with tin buckets, chairs, nets, oars, 

 and small bundles. The larger boxes required more deliberation, and 

 after one or two journeys most of our assistants resolved themselves 

 into advisory boards and escorts, and a procession was formed for each 

 package, but nothing was lost or stolen or broken, and before night 

 everything was in the house, our beds were set up, and our cooking 

 utensils and provisions were unpacked. The only available stove in 

 the town was rented and set up, a cook was hired, and we were able to 

 rest and to examine our new house while waiting for our first meal on 

 shore. 



The house is small, but by using all the rooms as work-rooms, and 

 putting our beds in corners which are of no other use, we have found 

 room for all hands. It is a two-story house, with the walls of stone 

 as far as the second floor, and of wood above, nicely painted and 

 papered, in good repair, with plenty of doors and windows, a large 

 stone cistern of good, cool water, and on the second floor a large 

 veranda overhanging the street in front, for, like all the large houses, 

 it is close to the street, which, as a sign on the corner informs us, is 

 Union Street. It is a narrow pathway about five feet wide, of smooth 

 white limestone. 



We are near the corner of Broadway, and on one side of us all 

 the houses are large, well built, and in good repair, with well-kept 

 gardens. On the other side, the street gradually narrows down to an 

 unfenced foot-path, which leads to the brush through a jungle of rank 

 vegetation through which little thatched huts are irregularly scattered. 

 We therefore have all the advantages and comforts of the better portion 

 of the town, but, being on the border-line, we are sufficiently near the 

 more primitive and interesting portion to establish a familar acquaint- 

 ance with the people, and to get an inside view of their life. This we 

 accomplish the better, as one of the members of our party, who is a 



