FLOCKS OF WATERFOWL. 475 



shallow coasts were haunted with flocks of waterfowl resembling 

 swans and pelicans ; the mud-banks harbored vast quantities of 



oysters, muscles, cockles, and other shell-fish. The inhabitants 

 went totally naked, would never parley with the strangers, and 

 did not seem to understand the Tahitian dialect of Tupia. 



