884 
SOUTH SEA 
directed our ship into the harbour, had received his usual 
fee of four dollars from the captain, he came into the 
king's house while I happened to be there, to give his 
majesty his share of the revenue which he had received. 
A warm discussion, however, soon arose between them 
about the division of the spoil, in which I could per- 
ceive that the king had a strong desire to obtain posses- 
sion of the whole four dollars, and it was very plainly to 
be seen also, that the pilot had no wish to relinquish 
them, for he seemed remarkably unwilling to give his 
majesty any part of the dues. The king, however, 
having asked him, in a very unaffected manner, to look 
at the dollars which he held in his hand, his majesty 
having watched his opportunity while he was allowing 
him to do so, snatched the whole of them from the palm 
of the astonished and mortified pilot, who now raised his 
voice to an alarming height at this unregal conduct, and 
did not appear to study in the least what sort of lan- 
guage he should make use of towards his royal master, 
who, “ smoothing his haughty front, was seen to grin 
a smile of happiness. ” But the pilot was not to be sub- 
dued by the smiles of royalty, for, watching his oppor- 
tunity like the king, he pounced with the velocity of an 
eagle upon the half-open hand of the monarch which 
contained the dollars, and in a determined, but still 
somewhat gentle manner, extracted three of them, which 
the king appeared rather to suffer than greatly to resist, 
but when he found that only one had been left behind 
by the avaricious pilot, a divulsion of feeling again 
shewed itself, and which was not allayed until the 
