LAEGE CANOE. 267 



On our return to the beach we found that scarcely 

 any bartering- had gone on^ and that the exhibition 

 of a number of axes and knives, had been attended 

 with the bad effect of exciting- the cupidity of the 

 natives. Soon afterwards a canoe with people 

 from the mainland arrived, and as anything but 

 good feeling appeared to subsist, and we had failed 

 in our object of getting the pigs, we left for the 

 ship— and this was our last communication with 

 the shore during our stay at this anchorage. 



Aug, 22nd. — The most interesting occurrence of 

 the day was the arrival from the main of a very 

 large canoe, with twenty-six people on board.* 

 When close to she shortened sail and attempted to 

 paddle up, but being too unwieldj^ to stem the cur- 

 rent, the end of a rope from the ship was carried 

 out to her and she hauled up under our stern and 

 made fast there. Besides the ordinary paddles we 

 observed at each end two others of large size— pro- 

 bably used for steering with, pulled as oars, with 

 cane gromets on the gunwale. We had not before 

 seen so fine a sample of Papuans ; several were 

 elderly men of fine figure and commanding appear- 

 ance. One man among them who sat alone upon a 

 small raised stage over the platform appeared to 

 exercise a considerable degree of authority over the 

 rest J the only instance yet seen by us, either here or 

 at the Louisiade, of any one assuming the functions 



* Represented in the frontispiece. 



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