PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 155 



countrymen. Several of the people upon the rafts CH y p * 

 had provided themselves with food, which consisted Wv-* 



1 r> i i Jan. 



of boiled root of the tee-plant, of pearl oysters, and 1826. 

 the sour pudding before mentioned. We endea- 

 voured to tempt them to taste some of our food ; 

 which they willingly accepted, but declined to par- 

 take of it, and placed it upon the raft, with nails, 

 rags, and whatever else they had collected. A piece 

 of corned beef that was given them passed from 

 hand to hand with repeated looks of inquiry, until 

 it was at last deposited in the general heap. I 

 took some pains to explain to them it was not 

 human flesh, which they in all probability at first 

 imagined it to be; and from their behaviour on 

 the occasion I think it quite certain they are not 

 cannibals. 



As the curiosity of one party of our visiters be- 

 came satisfied, they quitted the ship, and others sup- 

 plied their place. One of these favoured us with a 

 song, which commenced with a droning noise, the 

 words of which we could not distinguish ; they 

 then gave three shouts, to which succeeded a short 

 recitation, followed by the droning chorus and 

 shouts as before. In this manner the song proceed- 

 ed, each recitation differing from the former, until 

 three shouts, louder than the others, announced the 

 finale. The singers arranged themselves in a semi- 

 circle round the hatchway, and during the per- 

 formance pointed to the different parts of the ship, 

 to which their song was undoubtedly applicable; 

 but it was impossible to say in what way, though I 

 have every reason to believe it was of a friendly 

 nature. 



While the decks were so crowded with visiters, 



