202 THE ARU ISLANDS. [chap. xxx. 



nnid. and then thrown tip the chimney ; dried sharks' fins, 

 mother-of-pearl shells, as well as Birds of Paradise, which, 

 however, are so dirty and so badly preserved that I have as 

 yet found no specimens worth purchasing. When I hardly 

 look at the articles, and make no offer for them, they seem 

 incredulous, and, as if fearing they have misunderstood 

 me, again offer them, and declare what they want in retiirn 

 — knives, or tobacco, or sago, or handkerchiefs. I then 

 have to endeavour to explain, through any interpreter wh( i 

 may be at hand, that neither tripang nor pearl oyster shells 

 have any charms for me, and that I even decline to specu- 

 late in tortoiseshell, but that anything eatable I will buy — 

 fish, or turtle, or vegetables of any sort. Almost the only 

 food, however, that we can obtain with any regularity, are 

 fish and cockles of very good quality, and to supply our 

 daily wants it is absolutely necessary to be always pro- 

 vided with four articles — tobacco, knives, sago-cakes, and 

 Dutch copper doits — because when the particular thing 

 asked for is not forthcoming, the fish pass on to the next 

 house, and we may go that day without a dinner. It is 

 curious to see the baskets and buckets used here. The 

 cockles are brought in large volute shells, probably the 

 Cymbium ducale, while gigantic helmet-shells, a species of 

 Cassis, suspended by a rattan handle, form the vessels in 

 which fresh water is daily carried past my door. It is 

 painful to a naturalist to see these splendid shells with 



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