2 yo THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



' Oh yes,' continued the son ; ' don't you remember where 

 Eobinson Crusoe gets taken by the Turkish pirate ?' 



My friend told me he laughed very much, but was quite 

 unable to convince the boy of his mistake. He further said 

 that a seaman who had been cast away upon his father's 

 island used to read the tale aloud to them from a large book ; 

 'and I know,' added he conclusively, 'that this book was a 

 Bible, for it was nearly half as big as a brandy-case.' 



Besides these semi-barbarous adventurers, there are many 

 shipmasters and merchants who have been long used to sail 

 vessels, from thirty to one hundred tons, chiefly out of the 

 ports of Tahiti, Honolulu, Guam (where Hayes came to grief), 

 or Manilla, in quest of Mche-de-mer, whose practice it is to 

 frequent such lagoon atolls as it is possible to anchor within. 

 There they lie up for months until their cargo is complete. 

 They land their trypots and other requisites, build some palm- 

 leaf huts for lodging their men, and a smoke-house for the curing 

 of the fish, and have usually a good time of it. The labour of 

 collecting and drying the fish is performed partly by their 

 crews commonly Polynesian natives with the exception of 

 the mate and perhaps a trading-master and interpreter. To 

 these are added aborigines if the island is inhabited, or natives 

 they bring with them if it is deserted. Women are in great 

 requisition on these expeditions, they being well up to the 

 work, willing and good tempered, and much more easily con- 

 trolled than men. Traders who have much experience of this 

 pursuit universally admit the desirability of engaging an equal 

 number of women to that of the men concerned in the enter- 

 prise. A neglect of this arrangement has, in many instances, 

 led to serious quarrels. 



There can be no doubt this sort of life has a charm which 

 dwellers in the Babel of civilisation might be at a loss to 



