148 VOYAGE TO THE 



CI 1 AP - a terrier, was snatched up by one of the natives, and 

 *— -y^s was so much the object of his solicitation that it was 

 1825. only by force he was prevented carrying him away. 

 To people who had never seen any quadruped before 

 but a rat, so large an animal as a Newfoundland dog, 

 and that perfectly domesticated and obedient to his 

 master, naturally excited intense curiosity, and the 

 great desire of these people to possess themselves of 

 it is not to be wondered at. Had there been a female 

 dog on board, they certainly should have had them 

 both ; but one would have been of no use, except, 

 probably, to furnish a meal, which is the fate of all 

 the rats they can catch. 



One of the rafts that came off to the ship, a small- 

 er one than any of the others, brought a person of 

 superior appearance ; his complexion was much 

 fairer than that of his countrymen, and his skin 

 beautifully tattooed ; his features were of the true 

 Asiatic character : he had long black mustaches and 

 hair, and wore a light turban, which gave him 

 altogether the appearance of a descendant of Ishmael. 

 It was natural to infer that this was a person of some • 

 authority ; for as yet we had seen no distinction 

 whatever between our visiters, except that some 

 were more unruly than others ; but we found we 

 were mistaken : he mingled indiscriminately with 

 his companions, and was deficient in those little 

 points which are inseparable from a person accus- 

 tomed to command. Indeed, by the total disregard 

 they paid to each other, as also to every person in 

 the ship, we might have concluded that our visiters 

 were ignorant of any distinctions in society. 



Among the many katamarans that came off, not 

 one of them brought any articles to give or sell, 



