3 
ao LIBERTY THE ENGLISH ENJOY. ([Unar. III. 
pears not a little strange to European eyes, when- 
ever the ships move to any other anchorage in the 
vicinity, the whole of the inhabitants, houses, mar- 
ket, and all, move along with them, so easily do 
these individuals change about from one place to 
another. One of the captains informed me that it 
was in contemplation to leave that particular spot 
shortly, and that if I happened to visit it a day 
or two after this event, all the motley groups 
would be gone, and the place entirely deserted. 
Nor was this statement at all exaggerated, for 
on my return a few months afterwards, the change 
of station had taken place, and not a vestige of 
the little village remained: men, women, and chil- 
dren, with their huts, boats, and all that belonged 
to them, had followed the ships, and had again 
squatted opposite to them on the beach. 
The different modes which these people have of 
obtaining a livelihood are really astonishing: with 
one of these I was particularly struck. There are 
boats of all kinds engaged in bringing off stock, 
such as ducks, fowls, and other things, to the ships; 
but one kind consisted only of five or six thick 
pieces of bamboo fastened together in the form of 
a raft, and with this the poor fellows paddled 
along with two oars, the water washing all over the 
raft, and frequently also over its contents. The 
fowls which some of these people brought off were 
in a most pitiable plight, and certainly could not 
exist long in such a state. 
A few months after this time a complaint was 
