128 
LITTLE K± 
serted for another. A few presents of tobacco 
made their eyes glisten ; they would express 
their satisfaction by grins and shouts, by roll- 
ing on deck, or by a headlong leap overboard. 
Schoolboys on an unexpected holiday, Irishmen 
at a fair, or midshipmen on shore, would give 
but a faint idea of the exuberant animal enjoy- 
ment of these people/' One quiet old man stood 
over me in unpleasant proximity as I ate break- 
fast on deck ; he seemed fascinated by the para- 
phernalia of a civilised meal. 
Of our short visit to Kd there is not much to 
say. It is always interesting to us to learn the 
characteristics of the people, to see their homes 
and hear their speech. Numbers of the boats 
for which the K d islands are famous were moored 
on the white beach — boats which, though built 
without European tools, are as sound and close- 
fitting as any made in our best shipyards. The 
forests of Kd produce magnificent timber of vari- 
ous qualities, some of which are said to be supe- 
rior to the best Indian teak. To make each pair 
of planks used in the construction of the larger 
boats, an entire tree is consumed. The sand on 
the shore is the whitest I have ever seen. At 
mid-day, when we w T ere on shore, it hurt the 
eyes so that we were glad to turn into the woods, 
