Frequently
turning up their noses at the advent of a new cotton mantle recently
imported in the chest of some amorous sailor. Upon one occasion, I
observed a group of young girls, in tunics of course, soiled
sheeting, disdainfully pointing at a damsel in a flaming red one.
"Oee tootai owree!" said they with ineffable scorn, "itai maitai!"
(You are a good-for-nothing huzzy, no better than you should be).
Now, Kooloo communed with the church; so did all these censorious
young ladies. Yet after eating bread-fruit at the Eucharist, I knew
several of them, the same night, to be guilty of some sad
derelictions.
Puzzled by these things, I resolved to find out, if possible, what
ideas, if any, they entertained of religion; but as one's spiritual
concerns are rather delicate for a stranger to meddle with, I went to
work as adroitly as I could.
Farnow, an old native who had recently retired from active pursuits,
having thrown up the business of being a sort of running footman to
the queen, had settled down in a snug little retreat, not fifty rods
from Captain Bob's. His selecting our vicinity for his residence may
have been with some view to the advantages it afforded for
introducing his three daughters into polite circles. At any rate, not
averse to receiving the attentions of so devoted a gallant as the
doctor, the sisters (communicants, be it remembered) kindly extended
to him free permission to visit them sociably whenever he pleased.
