336 INVITATION TO LAND. [1845. 



that, had it been consistent with my duty, I should 

 have gladly taken advantage of this opportunity of seeing 

 more into their habits, &c. ; but considering that on 

 these occasions, the leader of such expeditions should 

 "in his own person and place", set the example of 

 endurance, and not accept a luxury which his officers 

 could not enjoy, I declined the invitation . Another impor- 

 tant consideration which occurred to me, was, that if I 

 had been either willingly or unwillingly detained, either 

 by design or mistaken hospitality, the zeal of the Officer 

 left in command of the boats, might have led to some 

 untoward misunderstanding. As the fishermen had dis- 

 turbed our marks, and were not friendly, there were 

 many of our party who were not inclined to give our 

 new acquaintance credit for the integrity of his inten- 

 tions ; they were, of course, on the alert, and suspicion, 

 heightened by the exhibition of some flashes of fire- 

 works during the night, put us on the qui vive, or under 

 arms, and somewhat troubled our rest. 



On the morning following, we found the people well- 

 disposed ; and moving onwards to the next station, I was 

 again favoured with a visit from our friend, the young chief, 

 inviting me to breakfast, but finding that I still declined 

 the honor, he caused a small basket, or canteen to be put 

 into the boat, containing what evidently had been pre- 

 pared in case of my declining his invitation, and motioned 

 me to take them with me. The contents were fish, vege- 

 tables, pickles, rice, and Sake, in white metal and porcelain 

 vessels, the latter certainly of some value to them. Even 

 this did not satisfy the suspicions of some of our gentry. 

 However, about noon, at a station, a little inland, and 



