TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS. 161 
guest the captain of any vessel, whether a 
man-of-war or a whaler, which may happen 
to arrive. On her appearance sufficiently 
near, the master of the house, whose turn it 
is to be the host, goes off in a canoe, and, 
after satisfactory answers to questions as to 
the health of those on board, he ascends the 
ship's side ; the canoe, which is but a light 
affair, being quickly hauled up after him. 
Most important are these inquiries ; for if 
the small-pox, or any other infectious dis- 
order, should find its way into the island, 
dreadful, indeed, would be the result. But 
when it is " all right," the ship's boat 
being lowered, the captain, and five or six 
men, conducted by the islander, who steers 
in the difficult parts, proceed to Bounty 
Bay. Some persons are always ready on the 
rocks to give a signal for the safe entrance 
of the boat, without which precaution se- 
rious accidents would frequently occur. 
The captain and his company, attended 
by a number of the natives, who have 
descended from the village to the little beach, 
now ascend the hill, and generally walk first 
to the school-house, where they obtain a 
