86 
passengers. My master accompanied 
me to see him ; and we anticipated at 
least a mental feast in each other’s soci¬ 
ety. But of this enjoyment we were 
deprived by the natives, who were al¬ 
ways uneasy when we were conversing 
together. 
I learned, however, from Hussey, 
that the natives had been kind to him ; 
but before we had an opportunity to 
communicate to each other our hopes 
and fears, he was hurried away. Hav¬ 
ing now gained considerable knowledge 
of their language, I learned that they 
were afraid that if we were permitted 
to hold converse, we should be the 
means of provoking the Supreme God , 
,ft nit, to do them some injury. 
The bread fruit beginning to ripen, 
we were all employed in gathering it ; 
and I will endeavour to give the reader 
an idea of the process of preserving it. 
After the fruit was gathered, the outside 
rind was scraped off, and the seeds ta¬ 
ken out ; which are in size and appear¬ 
ance like a chesnut The fruit is then 
V 
