328 THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



natives for this copra, which is roughly valued at two to three 

 cents per pound, realise never less than one hundred and often- 

 times three hundred per cent, profit. Thus inferior kinds of 

 prints which cost the trader about eightpence and ninepence 

 per fathom are retailed at two shillings. Shirts which cost 

 fifteen shillings a dozen, at Sydney, are sold at six shillings a 

 piece ; needles a penny each ; and a small reel of sewing cotton 

 one shilling. Comhs, looking-glasses, and gilt ornaments 

 command high prices, as also do fish-hooks, files, and tools of 

 all sorts. Ribbons and dyed feathers are in keen demand. 

 Tobacco generally fetches a dollar a pound (it can be had in 

 London or Sydney for about sevenpence to one shilling per 

 pound in bond). A regular trader and these gentlemen must 

 on no account be associated with the runaway rascals to whom 

 I have had occasion so often to refer will, when known, 

 make an advertisement of his wares in this fashion. He will 

 put on a pair of trousers of the kind he is most anxious to 

 sell, and a shirt of some gaudy colour; round his waist he 

 will wind a crape sash, or piece of handkerchief of imitation 

 silk ; on his head he will wear a felt hat, with a huge buckle 

 and a great bunch of dyed feathers of the most gorgeous 

 description. His ears will be pierced and loaded with gilt 

 rings ; round his neck are several yards of ribbon, strings of 

 beads and chains, and his clothing is saturated with bergamot, 

 verbena, or some similar perfume, as by these strong scents 

 the Polynesians are as irresistibly attracted as rats are by that 

 of aniseed, or dogs by a red herring. Thus attired, regardless 

 of expense, he is looked upon as a sublime personage, and 

 marches up the village street escorted by a dense crowd of 

 simple islanders, bursting with admiration. Fashion is as 

 supreme in Coral Lands as it is under the direction of Worth 

 of Paris, and the shrewd trader will take care to make a 



