ELLICE’S AND KINGSMILL GROUP. 
51 
a boat will not float; and, as it was low water, it became necessary 
to walk through the shallow to the beach, which was nearly a quarter 
of a mile distant. 
A very brisk trade was carried on for provisions and articles of 
curiosity. They had some small fish, which were much esteemed. 
The fowds offered for sale, as usual among the Polynesian islands, 
were all cocks, and proved old and tough. These were brought off 
in neat cages. 
Several women were among the crowd, with delicate features and 
a lively expression of countenance, but remarkably small. Their 
covering was a girdle, made almost altogether of fringe fastened to a 
string, wdiich was passed round the body. This garment had, at a 
distance, a more graceful look even than the “ titi” of Samoa. This 
it obtains from being made pliable by steeping it in some peculiar 
mixture, which was thought by some of the officers to have the odour 
of tobacco and molasses. The women were much less tattooed than 
the men; but, as at the other southern islands, in the same style with 
them. 
woman of drummond’s island. 
The same custom was in vogue here that prevails at most of the 
Polynesian islands, of rubbing noses and exchanging names. 
Along the shore of this island, in front of the villages or towns, 
there are long lines of stone walls, from one to two feet high, serving 
as fish-weirs or pens. In passing to the shore, they saw a party of 
