104 VISIT TO THE MARKET. 



In the evening great numbers of the natives came 

 down and waded into the water; at first I thought 

 they W' ere bathing, but afterward discovered that they 

 were engaged in fishing for a diminutive fish, which 

 I think, from their appearance, must have been 

 sardines. On the ensuing morning, the captain 

 having learned that we lay in a bad position, we hove 

 np our anchor and ran a short distance to the north- 

 ward, and again came to in the same depth of w^ater. 

 During this day w^e were occupied in getting off 

 water, and reeving new lanyards to our lower rigging ; 

 and this laborious work in latitude 8°, was rather 

 warm. We were visited by many boats from the 

 shore, and at noon had a comfortable dinner of sweet 

 potatoes, rice, chickens, &c. On the succeeding day 

 the starboard watch went ashore on liberty, each 

 member of it provided with half a dozen yards of 

 gaudy-colored, large-figured calico. We walked 

 about half a mile from the landing, and came to 

 anchor at the market, where we found a concourse 

 of men, w^omen, and children, with their wares ex- 

 posed to view, busily soliciting purchasers. This 

 market was situated in the open air, near by a cocoa- 

 nut grove. They had for sale monkeys, parrots, 

 cockatoos, cooked and uncooked rice, poultry, limes, 

 lemons, oranges, and figs, besides the fruits before 

 mentioned. These last were to be bouo'ht for a sons:, 

 and as we had been so long without these luxuries, 

 they were freely indulged in ; but what suited my 

 palate best was the banana fried in cocoa-nut oil, 

 which an old woman was busily engaged preparing — 

 plucking the fruit from the tree and cooking it. Our 

 appearance set these merchants agog, but they were 



