VATJ<;. 217 



u most safe anchorage, and being at the same time a most 

 picturesque spot ; the finest harbour, in a word, of this 

 cliarming ishmd, which has many excellent ones. 



The ' Dayspring,' which had not tlie advantage of steam 

 to help her on against the north-easter, did not arrive until 

 four o'clock. She is a good sailer, and a smart little craft, 

 painted all white, of 150 tons, built at Halifax, Nova Scotia, 

 with accommodation for eighteen passengers. Her crew 

 was composed of natives of the South Seas, belonging 

 principally to the island of Vate. She is the property 

 of the Presbyterian society of Halifax missions, wliich 

 supplies n)issit)naries to tlie New Hebrides. 



The ' Cura9oa ' was soon surrounded by several small 

 canoes, ill made, having outriggers dipping at their ends, 

 and fastened by three wooden cross pieces. The men on 

 board these frail craft were remarkable for their ugliness. 

 Their whole attire consisted of a maro, attached to a wide 

 yellow belt made of bark or grass matting, with white and 

 black patterns in it. Their hair was tied in a lump behind 

 their head, and formed, as it were, a bundle of wool, sur- 

 mounted, in some of them, by a wooden stick or ornament, in 

 others by the long points of crabs' claws hanging from either 

 side of the head. For earrings they had small sticks or 

 shells, according to each man's fancy. Many of them had 

 the cartilage of their noses transfixed for the purpose of 

 inserting ornaments, which consisted, for the most part, of 

 small round pieces of wood. Many had a large, round, flat 

 piece of shell suspended from tlieu- necks, the upper side 



