LIFE AMONG THE FEEJEES 



ing, were picked up by another boat near at hand. The 

 boats at last returned without reaching the ship, leaving 

 about twenty persons on board, among whom was the first 

 lieutenant and captain. In the afternoon, at ebb-tide, 

 the boats again left for the ship and finally reached her. 

 In the course of two hours they returned with all that 

 remained on the wreck. As the captain landed from the 

 last boat, he was received with hearty cheers. We were 

 all ashore, and we felt convinced that, under the Divine 

 blessing, we were indebted to the coolness and judgment 

 of Captain Hudson for our safety. Our clothes were left 

 aboard, by order, to be brought ashore in case it was pos- 

 sible after the crew were safe. The next morning the 

 ship was under water." 



TO A COMPANY OF CHILDREN IN UTICA 

 The Ways of the Feejees Half a Century Ago 



( Written by Dana after his return) 



In a letter dated at Washington, in March, 1843, a P - 

 parently written at the request of a Sunday-school in 

 Utica, Dana makes the following comments upon the Fee- 

 jees. The letter repeats some of the phrases employed 

 in the writer's letters to his family, but is so characteristic 

 that it will not be abridged. It gives in a familiar style 

 the observations of a naturalist upon the manners and 

 customs of the primitive islanders, and is quite worth 

 reading. 



" . . . At the Feejee Islands, which are situated 

 within the warm regions of the tropics, the year is one 

 perpetual summer and the trees are always green. The 

 cocoanut and breadfruit grow there, and other produc- 

 tions of warm climates, and the forests with their vines 

 and flowers are rich and beautiful. Among the cocoanut 

 groves, and beneath their shade, lie the clustered huts or 

 villages of the natives. In the distance the houses look a 

 little like stacks of hay, for the roofs, which come down 

 almost to the ground, are thickly covered with dried grass 

 or leaves, instead of shingles. The sides of the hut, on 



