148 TEE CRUISE OF THE 'CU^AQOA: 



her husband, and that she had liit upon her right vocation in 

 marrying a collector. I saw her touch tlie most disagreeable , 

 objects which were in process of preparation, such as skins 

 partly flayed, plunge her fingers into arsenical soap, smell at 

 everything, try the strength of the forceps, handle dissect- 

 ing instruments, none of which assuredly tended to perfume 

 her hands ; in a word, she was fond of her occupation, and 

 not ashamed to show it. As a matter of course she invited 

 jf^fo visit her curiosity shop, which I took good care to do. 

 i went there that very evening with Lieutenant Meade, an 

 officer not only full of professional zeal, but anxious for 

 every kind of information. Madame Graafle lived in a very 

 small wooden house, unpleasantly warm from all tlie windows 

 being closed, and in which there was scarcely room to turn 

 about, so crammed was it with dijects belonging to the doc- 

 tor's collection. Two women servants, natives of the Samoan 

 Isles, were asleep on a mat in the first room with their mis- 

 tress's baby between them. The collection being particularly 

 rich in mollusks, I becsed Madame Graaffe to make a selection 

 of shells for me peculiar to the Fiji Islands. She was lively 

 and communicative ; what with her chat first about herself, 

 tlien lier shells, and tlien lier husband, I began to think I 

 should never get away. When the selection was made of 

 shells and other things, then came the packing up ; and. 

 as ^lere were a great many piinute species of land-shells, 

 they required careful packing ; the consequence was, it wftS- 

 past 12 r.M. before all was ready. Now came another 

 important part of the process, payings for tlic wliole. I 



