ONE REMAINS ON BOAED. 273 



of natives which had left the ship after sunset and 

 landed abreast of the anchorage. On seeing- a number 

 of lig-hts along the beach^ we at first thought they 

 proceeded from a fishing party, but on looking 

 through a night-glass, the group was seen to con- 

 sist of above a dozen people, each carrying a blazing 

 torch, and going through the movements of a dance. 

 At one time they extended rapidly into line, at 

 another closed, dividing into two parties, advancing 

 and retreating, crossing and re-crossing, and mixing 

 up with each other. This continued for half an hour, 

 and having apparently been got up for our amuse- 

 ment, a rocket was sent up for their's, and a blue- 

 light burned, but the dancing had ceased, and the 

 fights disappeared. 



In the evening when the natives were leaving for 

 the shore, one of them volunteered to remain on 

 board on the understanding that some of us should 

 accompany him to Tassai, where, he explained, there 

 would be plenty of dancing and eating, enumerating 

 pigs, dogs, yams, and cocoa-nuts, as the component 

 parts of the feast. He was taken down to the 

 wardroom, and shortly underwent a complete meta- 

 morphosis, effected by means of a regatta shirt of 

 gaudy pattern, red neckcloth, flannel trousers, a 

 faded drab ^'Taglioni" of fashionable cut buttoned 

 up to the throat, and an old black hat stuck on one 

 side of his woolly head. Every now and then he 

 renewed his invitation to go on shore, but was 

 satisfied when given to understand that our visit 

 VOL. I. ' T 



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