270 MODE OF BAETERING, 



singular habit of directing- attention to their wares 

 by a loud^ sharp ss, ss, a kind of hissing' sound, 

 equivalent to " look at this." In their bargaining' 

 the natives have g-enerally been very honest, far 

 more so than our own people whom I have fre- 

 quently seen cheating them by passing off scraps of 

 thin worthless iron, and even tin and copper, for 

 pieces of hoop, the imposition not being found out 

 until the property has changed hands. As at the 

 Louisiade iron hoop is the article most prized by the 

 natives, and is valued according to its width and 

 thickness as a substitute for the stone-heads of their 

 axes. They also shewed great eagerness to obtain 

 our hatchets and fish-hooks, but attached little value 

 to calico, although a g'audy pattern, or bright colour, 

 especially red, was sure to arrest attention j but in such 

 matters they are very capricious. Even glass bottles 

 were prized, probably as a substitute for obsidian or 

 volcanic glass, portions of which I saw among them, 

 used in shaving, as was explained to me, and pro- 

 bably also for carving in wood. 



Aug. 25th. — Yesterday and to-day, in addition 

 to upwards of a hundred natives alongside bartering, 

 we were honoured with visits from several parties of 

 the Tassai ladies, in whose favour the prohibition to 

 come on board was repealed for the time. The young' 

 women were g"ot up with greater attention to dress 

 and finery than when seen on shore, and some had 

 their face blackened as if to heighten their attractions. 

 The outer petticoat, worn on gala days such as this, 



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