422 BERGH'S GROUP. [1830. 



On the following morning, before eight, A. M., we might have walked 

 half a mile from the vessel on the tops of canoes, at all points of the 

 compass. Every canoe contained a quantity of cocoanuts, bread-fruit, 

 plantains, bananas, and jack-fruit ; part of which we purchased, and 

 paid for in the China beads. By four o'clock in the afternoon, we had 

 more of these fruits than we had room for on deck, the whole not 

 costing more than two dollars' worth of beads. 



The natives were so well satisfied with the liberal manner in which 

 we had paid them, that they persisted in throwing fruit upon deck for 

 some time after we requested them to stop. They seemed to be deter- 

 mined not to be outdone in liberality, or fearful that they should not 

 sufficiently compensate us for the articles we had given them, which 

 they considered of inestimable value. These people are certainly the 

 most interesting in their manners, the most active in their movements, 

 and the most pleasing in their countenances, of any race of aborigines 

 on any island I have ever visited ; and the nautical skill with which 

 they manage their canoes is truly astonishing ; but not more so than 

 the ingenuity with which they are planned and constructed, of which 

 I will attempt a brief description. 



The canoes of these natives are mostly of great length, carrying from 

 fifteen to thirty men. The bottom is of one stick, or log, generally 

 from thirty to fifty feet in length, and got out in the form of a canoe, 

 with no other tools but such as are made of shells, &c. On this founda- 

 tion they proceed to build the vessel. Each side is formed of a single 

 plank or slab, from fourteen to eighteen inches in width, making the 

 depth of the boat ; but the two sides are not alike, one being nearly 

 flat and straight next the water, and the other somewhat bulging. These 

 sides are sewed fast to the bottom, with a strong cord made from the 

 bark of a tree, and also to a beautifully carved head and stern, resem- 

 bling those of the ancient galleys which we often meet with in classical 

 paintings. 



As these canoes are frequently propelled by sails, and as the bulging 

 side is always to windward, the reader will naturally suppose that it 

 could not long retain an upright position, but would be liable to upset. 

 This is prevented, however, by a very ingenious contrivance. A frame, 

 called an outrigger, projects out eight or ten feet horizontally from the 

 rounding, bulging, or windward side, at the extreme end of which is 

 attached a piece of buoyant wood, shaped something like a canoe. The 

 weight of this apparatus prevents the boat's capsizing to leeward, while 

 that side being flat prevents her making lee-way. At the same time 

 the buoyancy of the outrigger and bamboo frame renders it impossible 

 for her to overset to windward. This is the form and construction of 

 their single canoes, which go through the water with great velocity, 

 whether propelled by paddles or sails, or both. 



Their double canoes are formed in the same manner as the one just 

 described, with the exception of the out-rigger, which of course is not 

 necessary. Two canoes are fastened together abreast of each other, 

 with bamboos extended across them, on the same principle of construc- 

 tion as our twin ferry-steamboats. These canoes are generally about 

 forty feet in length, and the distance between them is from eight to ten 



