404 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 



covered that all pearls when first extracted are dull 

 and require polishing before they assume the appear- 

 ance of the gem of commerce. That rare bird the 

 megapod also visited the island, crossing over, I 

 presume, from the Mcobars, where it is resident. 

 The pigs were so numerous, that by erecting a screen 

 and spreading broken cocoa-nuts for them, they came 

 in dozens, and on eight different occasions I killed two 

 at a shot. These were killed and served out as food 

 to the people. For sport I used to roam the jungles, 

 and killed a good many boars one with tushes nine 

 and three-quarter inches long and some fine fat sows 

 and sucklings, which are delicious eating. Altogether, 

 whilst I lived on that island, existence was not so bad. 

 I had to take or send breakers of water across daily, 

 and used to go over myself nearly every day, as the 

 work was then of the simplest, consisting of collecting 

 materials and cutting stone, but the tide rip was very 

 dangerous, and once I was carried down and took eight 

 hours to get to my destination, which was barely 

 three miles across in a bee-line. So I built a house in 

 a grove of cocoa-nut palms on Table Island, on the 

 south face, and leaving a tindal and a crew consisting 

 of six free Madrassies and two of the best of the 

 Burmese convicts, together with a month's rations, 

 two muskets, and some ammunition, on the Coco, I 

 crossed over and took up my abode on the lesser 

 Isle ; occasionally I used to go back to turn turtle 

 and shoot game for the larder, my only companions 

 being the convicts. I used to sleep out in the jungles 

 oil a remote beach with them without fear, and they 

 never took advantage of my defenceless position. I 

 treated them fairly ; I told them they could kill me 



