14 A NATURALIST ON DESERT ISLANDS. 



As a rule one does not interest oneseK in the domestic 

 ordinances of a strange household, but here everything 

 was different. One could not help feeling curious and 

 interested in every small detail. How did these people 

 manage ? What did they Hve on ? How did they amuse 

 themselves during leisure hours ? Suppose Caffiana, 

 who seemed to be all smiles and giggles, and whose curly 

 wisp-hke hair was so shiny and so redolent of cocoanut oil, 

 were suddenly to get the sulks, refuse to cook any longer, 

 pack up her trunk (or whatever took its place) and give 

 notice on the spot ? These domestic tragedies are 

 common enough and bad enough when you are within 

 hail of a registry office, but out here the problem of 

 "getting suited" again is simply appalling. 



Caffiana naturally reminds us of Adolphus. One might 

 have thought that on a tiny coral island Kke this, where 

 one of the great charms lies in being able to order one's 

 dress in strict accordance with the necessities of the case, 

 many of the conventions of everyday life would have been 

 gradually dropped. But habit or convention is a strange, 

 unreasoning master ; and we were not a httle astonished 

 to notice that on every Sunday each negro gentleman 

 appeared dressed in such garments as he considered to 

 be the very last word in the fashions. In this respect 

 Adolphus represented the ultimate limit. No one could 

 touch him. His tie rivalled the hibiscus shrubs in the 

 glory of its green and scarlet. His waistcoat simply 

 clashed with the sober and more graduated tints of the 

 surrounding vegetation. His trousers were the colour 

 of the cloudless sky; while as one last finishing touch 

 to so much splendour, he walked abroad amid all the 

 natural beauty of these virgin woods in a pair of glistening 

 patent-leather boots with buttons. When we first saw 

 Adolphus in all this glory, he was very self-conscious. 

 He gave us a sort of sickly, diffident smile. It was as 

 much as to say : " You see me in all this splendour — do 

 not take it to heart : perhaps some day your turn will 

 come too." As at the time we had very httle on of a super- 



