184 THE WHALEMAN ; OR, 



who belong to the class of quiet ones ; but others 

 were noisy, confident, and brave — -full of their 

 gabble— -rich — possessing the whole creation, 

 and a little more. 



Under these circumstances they endeavored to 

 display their agility and strength, and perform 

 wonderful feats ; such, for instance, as climbing 

 the pole in the hut. This the head man at- 

 tempted to do, who was, as we should judge, 

 " three quarters over," and after repeated efforts 

 succeeded in climbing up the pole six or eight 

 feet. 



His wife, being actuated by the same impulse, 

 concluded she would follow her husband, and 

 climb up after him. This she did, and had got 

 up only a few feet, when her husband's strength, 

 under these circumstances more quickly developed 

 than lasting, gave out ; and yielding to the sim- 

 ple force of gravity which he could not well re- 

 sist, came down upon the head and shoulders 

 of his wife ; and by his accelerated momentum 

 both were brought to the ground in double com- 

 pound confusion, to the great merriment of those 

 of us who were looking on and observing the 

 progress of the scene. It was one of the most 

 laughable incidents we ever witnessed in our 

 lives. 



Again, the natives would display, in the most 



