eally beautiful little craft, and I am sure
that, if well kept and properly manned, they would show to no
discredit among our smart yachts at Cowes. Not a day passes without
one or more entering or leaving the harbour, returning from or bound
to the lonely isles with which the south-west portion of the Pacific
is studded. They are provided with a patent log, but their captains,
who are intelligent men, do not care much about a chronometer, as the
distances to be run are comparatively short and are easily judged.

Mr. Godeffroy gave us rather an amusing account of the manner in which
their negotiations with the natives are conducted. The more civilised
islanders have got beyond barter, and prefer hard cash in American
dollars for their pearls, shells, cocoa-nuts, sandal-wood, &c. When
they have received the money, they remain on deck for some time
discussing their bargains among themselves. Then they peep down
through the open skylights into the cabin below, where the most
attractive prints and the gaudiest articles of apparel are temptingly
displayed, alongside a few bottles of rum and brandy and a supply of
tobacco. It is not long before the bait is swallowed; down go the
natives, the goods are sold, and the dollars have once more found
their way back into the captain's hands.

I had a long talk with one of the natives, who arrived to-day from
Flint Island--a most picturesque-looking individual, dressed in
scarlet and orange-coloured flannel, and a mass of black, shiny, curly
hair. Flint Island is a place whose existence has been disputed, it
having been more than once searched for by ships in vain. It was,
therefore, particularly interesting to meet some one who had actually
visited, and had just returned from, the spot in question. That
islands do occasionally disappear entirely in these parts there can be
little doubt. The Tahitian schooners were formerly in the habit of
trading with a small island close to Rarotonga, whose name I forget;
but about four years ago, when proceeding thither with the usual
three-monthly cargo of provisions, prints, &c., they failed to find
the island, of which no trace has since been seen. Two missionaries
from Rarotonga are believed to have been on it at the time of its
disappearance, and to have shared its mysterious fate.

_Thursday, December 7th_.--At eight o'clock I took Mabelle and Muriel
for a drive in a pony-carriage which had been kindly lent me, but with
a hint that the hor