ths of the lagoon. The canoe was light and our three paddles
sent her over the waters at a great rate. My two companions were both
young men, and, unlike most of the people of Strong's Island, who are
a reserved and melancholy race, they laughed and sang merrily to the
strokes of their red-stained paddles.

Here and there, as we skimmed along the shore of the forest-clad
mountains of the mainland, we would pass a village of six or seven
houses, and the small-made, light-complexioned folk would, as they heard
the sound of our voices, come out and eagerly beseech us to come in "and
eat and rest awhile."

But pleased as I would have been to have landed and accepted their
hospitality--for I was known to every native on the island--my crew
urged me not to delay so early on our journey. Sometimes, however, these
kindly-hearted people would not be denied, and boys and girls would run
parallel to our canoe along the beach and implore Sru and Nana and the
"white man" to stay "just a little, just a very, very little time, and
tell them the news from Utwe."

And then, as we rested on our paddles and talked, under pretence of
getting closer to us they would dash into the water and seizing the
gunwales of the canoe laughingly insist upon our coming ashore and
entering their cool houses, and indeed it was hard to resist their
blandishments. Then, once we were inside, they would tell us that they
would not let us go till we had eaten and drunk a little.

A little! Basket after basket of cooked fish, crayfish, pigeons, baked
pork, bunches of bananas and kits of oranges and heaps of luscious
pineapples would be placed before us, and they seemed absolutely pained
at my inability to eat more than a few mouthfuls. All the men at these
isolated villages were away at Leasse or elsewhere in the vicinity of
Coquille Harbour, and the women and young girls pretended to be very
much frightened at being left by themselves for a couple of days.
They were afraid, they said, that Captain Hayes's wild Pleasant Island
natives might come up the lagoon and harry their villages--wouldn't we
stay with them till their husbands and brothers came back?

Now, we knew all this was nonsense. There was no fear of the Pleasant
Islanders' boats coming up the lagoon to these little villages when
there was richer prey nearer at hand, so we only laughed. Many of the
young boys and girls were of great personal beauty, and, indeed, so were
many of the young unmarri