52 MARQUESAS ISLANDS. 



to have the recruits, pigs, etc., at the landing 

 ready for him to take off in the morning. On 

 returning, the chief mate, with two boats' crews 

 and the English interpreter, pulled in to another 

 bay, and landed himself and interpreter, with 

 boats afloat and oars ready for a spring in case 

 of a surprise. Our rule in those days was, that 

 if the women and girls were at the shore, we 

 were comparatively safe from attack by the 

 natives. At this landing neither men nor women 

 were to be seen, and, fearing ambush, we left 

 for the ship. When the captain left the 

 Sandwich Islander on the shore for the night, 

 he took the chief's son as hostage for the safety 

 of our interpreter. 



With the ship off and on through the night, 

 in the morning we stood in toward the upper 

 bay. When a canoe came off, with a New 

 Zealand native, who came on board and gave 

 us a full account of how they had killed the 

 Sandwich Islander and eaten him, with a descrip- 

 tion of the festivities or revels during the night, 

 the captain ordered the ship put away for 

 Nukahiva. When on her course, with yards 

 trimmed, tacks down, and sheets aft, with a 

 spanking trade wind breeze on the quarter, there 

 comes a scene which would require an artist to 



