522 



ANECDOTES — CURIOUS RELICS. 



Nov. 



mountains, in a manner astonishing, if not impossible, to Euro- 

 peans. Mr. Darwin, who made a three days' excursion among 

 the wildest parts of the mountains, was quite enthusiastic in 

 his account of the strength, activity, and above all, the excel- 

 lent disposition and good conduct of the two natives who were 

 his companions and guides. 



At the door of one house I saw the owner reading a book 

 attentively. It was the New Testament translated into his na- 

 tive language. His wife was rolling up some of the large green 

 leaves which they use as substitutes for plates ; and two merry 

 little children had been running after me, singing, in hopes of 

 a present of some trifle. The superior expression of that man's 

 countenance, and his unaffected employment (for I came upon 

 him suddenly, and unperceived till the children spoke), made 

 an impression upon my mind, which, I hope, will not be for- 

 gotten. 



In my way back, passing some tall palm trees, I asked a 

 native to get me some cocoa-nuts. Putting a strip of bark be- 

 tween his feet, he threw off his shirt, and jumped 'at' the tree, 

 catching the trunk with his feet and hands at the same moment; 

 then moving his hands alternately, and his feet by short jumps, 

 the band of bark assisting their hold on the slender trunk, in a 

 few seconds he was at the top of a tree seventy feet in height, 

 quite straight and perpendicular, and tapering in size from a 

 foot to six inches in diameter. 



Some curious relics of former times were found for me, which 

 had long remained in dusty quiet ; among them were tortoise- 

 shell masks, and head pieces surmounted by feathers of the 

 tropic bird ; also an apron, ingeniously, or rather laboriously 

 made of small pieces of mother of pearl. So long was it since 

 they had been used, that a native about thirty years of age did 

 not know what they were for : but from the signs and expres- 

 sions of the old man to whom they belonged, I think they formed 

 part of the dress of a priest, used when sacrificing a (perhaps 

 human) victim.* Two English sixpences also found their way 

 to me, bearing the date 1787 ; memorials of the ill-fated Bounty. 



• A whole dress may be seen at the British Museum, brought to 

 England by Cook in 1771. 



