KING HOOQUINAH. 363 



a delightful appearance. On each side the 

 banks are high, and the flourishing palm-tree is 

 to be seen in great numbers. 



At nine in the morning we came to anchor off 

 a town named Oweecoodagra, the place where the 

 steamers first obtained a supply of wood. Mr. 

 Lander requested me to go on shore with a pre- 

 sent of scarlet cloth, a looking-glass, and a bottle 

 of rum, and to make arrangements with the king 

 to have a supply of wood ready cut by the time 

 the steamers came down. The king is named 

 Hooquinah : he is an elderly man, with cata- 

 ract in the left eye, and slight opacity of the 

 right. The town consists of about forty huts, 

 many much injured by the heavy rains. On 

 landing, my interpreter conducted me to the pa- 

 laver-house, where a low wooden stool was placed 

 for me to sit on. A great number of the natives 

 had of course collected to see me, and were 

 squatted down round the house. In a few mi- 

 nutes the king made his appearance, dressed in 

 a striped Guernsey frock, a silk hankerchief, and 

 a piece of blue striped cotton, secured round his 

 loins. I laid before him the presents which I 

 had brought, and with which he seemed pleased, 

 giving us in return a goat, a fowl, and a few 



