THE FRIENDLY ISLANDS 131 



and trinkets. They were far from emulating the 

 silence of their countryman who had been the 

 first to visit the English ships, and they set up a 

 terrific hubbub as they offered, with loud voices, 

 the things they had to sell. 



Cook landed at the head of a small party. A 

 crowd of natives was assembled on the shore, and 

 shouted in honour of the strangers. They car- 

 ried no weapons, not even sticks, and offered to 

 exchange cloth for nails. They seemed more 

 anxious to give than to receive, for those who 

 could not get near enough threw bales of cloth 

 towards the newcomers, and went away without 

 asking for anything in return. 



Tioony led the Englishmen to his dwelling, 

 agreeably situated three hundred yards from the 

 sea, at the foot of a great prairie. Cook made 

 his Scotch sailors play the bagpipes, and in re- 

 turn the Indian chief ordered three young 

 women to sing. These performed readily, and 

 Cook, who was far from appreciating musical 

 displays, wrote in his Journal, "Their songs were 

 musical and harmonious and noways harsh or 

 disagreeable. The singers beat time by moving 

 the second finger against the thumb, while their 

 three fingers remained lifted." 



An excursion into the interior of the island 

 took place. The natives everywhere welcomed 

 the Englishmen with effusion. They kissed 



