17^ WALK ALONG ISLAND. 



of women were sitting round small fires cooking the 

 kind of yam called " ketai," and other roots ; but 

 they had few more than they were actually con- 

 suming. An active barter immediately commenced 

 with our boats' crews, in which tortoise-shell, bows 

 and arrows, and other curiosities, with some cocoa- 

 nuts, were exchanged against knives, axes, and 

 tobacco. Melville and I, with my attendant Johns, 

 slipped out of the crowd and walked along Treach- 

 erous Bay, where I wished to examine the rocks. 

 When we had gone about half a mile, we heard a 

 native hallooing after us, and he overtook us as we 

 were climbing up some steep ascents at the east end 

 of Treacherous Bay, by a native foot path. He 

 was a fine handsome young fellow, who said his 

 name was Duppa. On the top of the ridge, among 

 some dense jungle, we found several small huts, of 

 a rather different construction from those below, 

 but they seemed uninhabited. Duppa here shouted 

 aloud, and apparently received an answer inaudible 

 to our ears. We then followed the path into a 

 little valley, opening on the north-east corner of the 

 island, and fronted by a large bed of mangroves, 

 and on the opposite rise came upon a large plantain- 

 ground. This was about half an acre in extent, 

 rudely fenced and imperfectly cleared. The plan- 

 tains seemed healthy, but there was little or no fruit 

 on them. The ground here, as elsewhere, seemed 

 rich, consisting of a dark brown unctuous loam, and 

 would, I think, be well adapted for coffee-plantations. 



