164 FROM CONCEPTION BAY 



briskly, and with prodigious uproar j many boats 

 upset in the eagerness to be the first with their 

 goods ; the most violent disputes, however, always 

 ended with laughing and joking. Those who, on 

 account of the press, could not yet get near to the 

 Rurick, amused themselves in their boats with 

 singing and dancing, and their extremely comic 

 motions, as well as their great dexterity in gri- 

 macing, highly diverted us. 



As they could not be induced to come on board, 

 the barter was carried on by means of a rope, 

 which was thrown to them, and to which they 

 fastened their goods without distrust, pa- 

 tiently waiting for their pay, which was given to 

 them in the same manner. One of the chiefs, who, 

 at last, ventured so high up the side-ladder of the 

 Rurick, that he could see the quarter-deck, while 

 looking, full of admiration and curiosity, at 

 every new object, v/as pulled back by the legs by 

 his companions, with loud cries of fear. They 

 all surrounded him when he had got again into his 

 boat ; he had much to tell them, making lively 

 gesticulations, and showing them the presents we 

 had made him, to reward his courage. By degrees 

 the boldness of the islanders increased ; they stole 

 all they were able, without paying the least regard 

 to our representations, which they only laughed 

 at, and, at length, carried their boldness to such a 

 degree, as to threaten us. Their ignorance of Eu- 

 ropean fire-arms, and their numbers far exceeding 



