NIUE, OB SAVAGE ISLAND. 21 



unable, ou account of his wife's position, to show his fellow- 

 countrymen the attentions he could have wished, he offered 

 me some cocoa-nut milk, which I drank with pleasure, enor- 

 mous oranges with very thick rinds, and baked bananas, 

 which I found not at all bad. I led him to chat with me 

 about his island, and it is to him I am indebted for part of 

 the information which I shall presently detail. Near the 

 Missionary's liouse is a tolerably large church, also thatched 

 Avith sugar-cane leaves, which seems to be the case with all 

 dwellings of the natives, that are extremely clean, some of 

 them having their walls whitewashed and openings screened 

 by what looked like rude imitations of Venetian blinds. 



I set out to examine the island with a young lad, attached 

 to the mission, as my guide. Some ten of the natives fol- 

 lowed me, shouting in such a way as to deafen me. I gave 

 them all jew's-harps, which appeared to amuse them much, 

 and to put them in great good humour. One of tliem 

 seemed bent ou allowing himself the privilege of trying each 

 of them before choosing, but I took the liberty not to gratifj' 

 this fancy ; others wished to smoke my pipe, which I could 

 prevent only by telling tliem it was tabu. They gave me 

 the title of Kcqyena, that is to say, captain. I did hope they 

 would tire themselves out at last and have done with their 

 deafening cries, but all in vain : I do confess I found their 

 noise a thorough nuisance. On my way I met numbers of 

 natives carrying poles on their shoulders, as do the Hawai- 

 ians, to the two ends of which were tied pigs, yams, and 

 other eatables. For a space of four miles I proceeded on 



*c.3 



