PERPLEXING CONVERSATION. 107 



quickly attended to, and there was an evident desire 

 to fraternise in the most cordial style with the 

 bearded strangers, which of course we were not back- 

 ward in responding to. It was from this place 

 principally that accounts had been derived respecting 

 vessels having been seen ; and all set to work with 

 diUgence to unravel as much as possible of the tangled 

 web, which all people, whose communications and 

 records are pm-ely oral, are sm-e to weave round 

 simple facts, between the occurrence and recital of 

 which any interval of time has intervened. 



Our eflforts on this head would have been amusing 



enough to a spectator, but were really rather tiresome 



to ourselves, though many ludicrous misconceptions 



of the ideas intended to be conveyed were productive 



of uncontrollable mirth. Por Teo was very deaf, and 



not more than commonly inteUigent; and thus it 



was not surprising that we turned in preference to 



la belle Meeco for assistance in siu-mounting the 



many difficulties occurring ; but the old gentleman 



could not rest contented when not engaged in the 



dialogue, and would frequently, just perhaps as the 



long-attempted solution of a question hung upon the 



tm-n of an instant's consideration, break in upon the 



confab with some remark perfectly foreign to the 



subject. He was really very vexatious sometimes, 



