50 
A MAEKET AFLOAT. 
could hardly be induced to make so great an 
exertion. 
October 28 ^/l — W e landed in the morning to pitch 
the tent for magnetic observations. As there are two 
principal streams of lava terminating on the beach, an 
intermediate spot M'as chosen, where the sand ap- 
peared to be in the greatest mass. Search was also 
made for the wood that the Governor said was plen- 
tiful; it was soon found that his “plenty store” con- 
sisted in the “ribs and trucks” of a small Spanish 
vessel that had been wrecked here, and from what we 
could understand, must have been a slaver, which 
made the good people so solicitous to prevent our too 
near approach. We might have exclaimed of Nep- 
tune, as the owls did of the caliph and the ruined 
villages, as it seems we shall be able to draw an ample 
supply from her timbers, though all of fir and some- 
what sodden by being below high-water mark. The 
wreck occurred during the reign of the late Governor 
Job, who was present to lay claim to remuneration as 
lord of the manor. But it was evident that the 
Governor de facto would have the “ lion’s share.” 
The native venders had an excellent mode of regu- 
lating precedence among themselves. The first comer 
begged for the end of a long and strong rope from 
the ship ; this he passed through a hole in the bow of 
his canoe, and then handed it to the next, and so on, 
to any number, limited only by the length and 
strength of the rope. They were thus obliged to keep 
