rmit me to remain aboard
that day, as I did not feel well; but he looked at me angrily, and
ordered me, in a surly tone, to get ready to go on shore as usual. The
fact was that the captain had been out of humour for some time past.
Romata and he had had some differences, and high words had passed
between them, during which the chief had threatened to send a fleet of
his war-canoes, with a thousand men, to break up and burn the schooner;
whereupon the captain smiled sarcastically, and going up to the chief,
gazed sternly in his face while he said, "I have only to raise my little
finger just now, and my big gun will blow your whole village to atoms in
five minutes!" Although the chief was a bold man, he quailed before the
pirate's glance and threat, and made no reply; but a bad feeling had
been raised, and old sores had been opened.

I had, therefore, to go with the woodcutters that day. Before starting,
however, the captain called me into the cabin and said:

"Here, Ralph; I've got a mission for you, lad. That blackguard Romata
is in the dumps, and nothing will mollify him but a gift; so do you go
up to his house and give him these whale's teeth, with my compliments.
Take with you one of the men who can speak the language."

I looked at the gift in some surprise, for it consisted of six white
whale's teeth, and two of the same dyed bright red, which seemed to me
very paltry things. However, I did not dare to hesitate, or to ask any
questions; so gathering them up, I left the cabin, and was soon on my
way to the chief's house, accompanied by Bill. On expressing my
surprise at the gift, he said:

"They're paltry enough to you or me, Ralph, but they're considered of
great value by them chaps. They're a sort o' cash among them. The red
ones are the most prized, one of them bein' equal to twenty o' the white
ones. I suppose the only reason for their bein' valuable is that there
ain't many of them, and they're hard to be got."

On arriving at the house we found Romata sitting on a mat, in the midst
of a number of large bales of native cloth and other articles, which had
been brought to him as presents from time to time by inferior chiefs.
He received us rather haughtily; but on Bill explaining the nature of
our errand, he became very condescending, and his eyes glistened with
satisfaction when he received the whale's teeth, although he laid them
aside with an assumption of kingly indifference.

"Go," said he wit