A YOUNG COQUETTE. 59 



which she went and gave half a handful to the other 

 woman, and then licked her own hands as clean as 

 possible. The youngest and best looking girl we 

 could not persuade to come to us. On beckoning 

 to her to come for sugar she would advance hesi- 

 tatingly a little way, and then turn round laughing, 

 with her hand before her face, and run behind some 

 of the men, with all the airs and coquetry of a rustic 

 belle, which in her purely natural condition amused 

 us not a little. We then gave some for her to a 

 man who apparently was her husband. He took a 

 heavy toll of it, but on our crying out he let her 

 taste it, when, as she took only a little as if afraid 

 or not liking it, he hastily crammed the remainder 

 into his mouth, as if to settle the business, and 

 seemed to treat our efforts at gallantry with pro- 

 found indifference and contempt. On my stepping 

 ashore to buy another basket, the young women ran 

 away with the little children, but the rest took no 

 notice. Some of the younger men were very inqui- 

 sitive about our dress, pulling our coats as if they 

 thought they were loose skin, on which I sat down 

 and took off my boot and stocking, at which there 

 were many exclamations of " Phut ! phut!" As I 

 was throwing my stocking to one of the men in the 

 boat, one of the boys, with a very comical air, jumped 

 up and caught it in its passage, on which there was 

 a general laugh : he examined it with great atten- 

 tion, peeping down it like a magpie into a bone ; 

 and then, seeing one of our men holding out his 

 hand for it, he pretended to throw it, but suddenly 



