VILLAGE OF TASSAI. 



261 



same time, as if in honour of our arrival. Each of 

 us joined in the merriment as he came up, and in a 

 short time the whole of Tassai was in an uproar. 

 Among the natives every one seemed pleased, 

 bustling about, watching our motions, examining 

 our dress, and laughing and shouting immoderately 

 as each new object was presented to his view. 

 Meanwhile I wandered about the village, accom- 

 panied by some women and children, picking up at 

 the same time materials for my vocabulary. One 

 old dame broug-ht me a cocoa-nut shell full of 

 water which I returned after drinking some, but 

 she pressed me in a very motherly way to put it 

 into my bag, having doubtless imagined from our 

 inquiries after water, that even a Httle constituted 

 a valuable present. We had seen neither stream 

 nor well upon the island, and besides, it is probable 

 that the great abundance of cocoa-nuts enables 

 them to subsist with very little water. We dis- 

 tributed among them some iron-hoop, knives, 



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