The Trade On Shore For Fruit Was As Brisk As Ever.

After dinner, I made a little expedition in my boat along the coast to the south-ward, accompanied by some of the gentlemen:

At the different places we touched at, we collected eighteen pigs; and I believe, might have got more. The people were exceedingly obliging wherever we landed, and readily brought down whatever we desired.[2]

Next morning I went down to the same place where we had been the preceding evening; but instead of getting pigs, as I expected, found the scene quite changed. The nails and other things they were mad after but the evening before, they now despised, and instead of them wanted they did not know what; so that I was obliged to return, with three or four little pigs, which cost more than a dozen did the day before. When I got on board, I found the same change had happened there, as also at the trading place on shore. The reason was, several of the young gentlemen having landed the preceding day, had given away in exchange various articles which the people had not seen before, and which took with them more than nails or more useful iron tools. But what ruined our market the most, was one of them giving for a pig a very large quantity of red feathers he had got at Amsterdam. None of us knew at this time, that this article was in such estimation here; and, if I had known it, I could not have supported the trade, in the manner it was begun, one day.

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