A Burial at Sea. 603 



the island plenty of Taro, cocoa-nuts, bananas, pigs, and 

 poultry, wliicli they would willingly exchange for fish-hooks, 

 tobacco, calico, gunpowder, ammunition, biscuit, playing- 

 cards, and ornaments for their wives. For money they did 

 not show the slightest desire, and of the value of gold they 

 seemed to be utterly ignorant. They showed the utmost 

 eagerness for playing-cards and trinkets. 



We now also learned that there was on the island one white 

 settler, an English sailor. This man attempted to come off 

 to the frigate in a small canoe, but owing to night setting in, 

 he could not reach her. As these hearty people were taking 

 their leave, we promised to pay them a visit early next morn- 

 ing, with which they seemed highly delighted. 



There still remained the same evening one mournful duty 

 for those on board the Novara. During the afternoon one of 

 our sailors had died after protracted sufferings consequent on 

 dysentery, and we had now, for sanitary reasons, to commit 

 his remains to the deep the very evening of his death. It 

 •was already dark when the officers and crew were mustered 

 on deck, to pay the last honours to the departed. The cap- 

 tain gave the customary orders, the ship's bell tolled, the 

 narrow plank, on which lay the body of the deceased sewn up 

 in his hammock, was brought to the gangway, where an iron 

 weight was attached to the body by the feet, and last of all the 

 plank being tilted up, the heavy body plunged into the waves 

 with a hollow splash, and the watery tomb closed over him. 



We looked down into the abyss and beheld myriads of stars 



