418 
MISSIONARY TOUR 
to each ; the former navigates the vessel, while the 
latter attends to the cargo. The natives in general 
make good sailors ; and although their vessels have 
greatly multiplied within the last few years, they find 
constant employ for them, particularly the small craft, 
which are continually plying from one island to another, 
while their larger ones are either chartered to foreign 
merchants, or make distant voyages on their own 
account. They have once sent a vessel to Canton 
loaded with sandal wood, under the care of an Eng¬ 
lish captain and mate, but manned by natives. They 
have also traded to Kamtschatka and other parts of 
the Pacific, and have within the last few years made 
one or two successful voyages for the purpose of 
procuring seal skins, which they have disposed of to 
advantage. 
The national flag of the islands, which is an English 
jack, with eight or nine horizontal stripes of white, 
red, and blue, was given them by the British govern¬ 
ment many years ago, accompanied by an assurance 
that it would be respected wherever the British flag 
was acknowledged. Although they are so expert in 
the manufacture of their canoes, they have made but 
