WHALING VOYAGE. 
308 
a yam which we had brought from the ship* the poor 
fellow paid the greatest possible attention to our signs 
in order to understand our wants ; his mental struggles 
for that purpose were vehement, and when he thought 
he had obtained the much-desired information he dashed 
off in his little canoe, in which he was alone, with such 
remarkable energy of manner and desire to please, that 
his acts formed one of the most interesting features of 
the scene : he stood in the centre of his pigmy canoe, 
and dashed his paddle into the water on either side, 
alternating with such quickness and power as to make 
his little bark rush over the yielding fluid with amazing 
speed ; he very quickly returned, using all his strength 
in the same manner as he went, and when he came 
alongside our boat he was almost breathless, and was in 
a most agitated state, -—he had brought a small plant in 
his hand, which was not the kind we wanted, nor did 
it appear of any service whatever to us ; and when 
he found all his exertions had been entirely fruitless, 
he put on a visage that surpassed all woe-begones that 
I had ever seen before ; however, we did not allow 
him to go unrewarded for his trouble and good-will, 
which quickly brought back the agreeable aspect that 
he had for a short time lost. 
We now saw a very large canoe, completely filled 
with people, putting off from the shore, and as it came 
slowly towards us we had doubts arise in our minds as 
to their intentions, which caused us to look round for 
the ship, when to our great surprise we found we had 
drifted from her about two miles ; this discovery did 
