Soon, As We Turned A Headland, We Encountered Another Canoe, Paddling
With Might And Main In An Opposite Direction; The Strangers Shouting
To Each Other, And A Tall Fellow In The Bow Dancing Up And Down Like
A Crazy Man.
They shot by us like an arrow, though our
fellow-voyagers shouted again and again for them to cease paddling.
According to the natives, this was a kind of royal mail-canoe,
carrying a message from the queen to her friends in a distant part of
the island.
Passing several shady bowers which looked quite inviting, we proposed
touching, and diversifying the monotony of a sea-voyage by a stroll
ashore. So, forcing our canoe among the bushes, behind a decayed palm
lying partly in the water, we left the old folks to take a nap in the
shade, and gallanted the others among the trees, which were here
trellised with vines and creeping shrubs.
In the early part of the afternoon, we drew near the place to which
the party were going. It was a solitary house inhabited by four or
five old women, who, when we entered, were gathered in a circle about
the mats, eating poee from a cracked calabash. They seemed delighted
at seeing our companions, but rather drew up when introduced to
ourselves. Eyeing us distrustfully, they whispered to know who we
were. The answers they received were not satisfactory; for they
treated us with marked coolness and reserve, and seemed desirous of
breaking off our acquaintance with the girls.
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