Sure enough, in accordance with our expectations, break of day revealed the twin masses of Futuna ahead, some ten or fifteen miles away.With the fine, steady breeze blowing, by breakfast-time we were off the entrance to a pretty bight, where sail was shortened and the ship hove-to.Captain Count did not intend to anchor, for reasons of his own, he being assured that there was no need to do so.Nor was there.Although the distance from the beach was considerable, we could see numbers of canoes putting off, and soon they began to arrive.Now, some of the South Sea Islands are famous for the elegance and seaworthiness of their canoes; nearly all of them have a distinctly definite style of canoe-building; but here at Futuna was a bewildering collection of almost every type of canoe in the wide world.Dugouts, with outriggers on one side, on both sides, with none at all; canoes built like boats, like prams, like irregular egg-boxes, many looking like the first boyish attempt to knock something together that would float; and--not to unduly prolong the list by attempted classification of these unclassed craft--CORACLES.
Yes; in that lonely Pacific island, among that motley crowd of floating nondescripts, were specimens of the ancient coracle of our own islands, constructed in exactly the same way; that is, of wicker-work, covered with some waterproof substance, whether skin or tarpaulin.But the ingenious Kanaka, not content with his coracles, had gone one better, and copied them in dugouts of solid timber.The resultant vessel was a sort of cross between a butcher's tray and a wash-basin--"A thing beyond Conception: such a wretched wherry, Perhaps ne'er ventured on a pond, Or crossed a ferry."The proud possessors of the coracles, both wicker and wood, must have been poor indeed, for they did not even own a paddle, propelling their basins through the water with their hands.It may be imagined what a pace they put on! At a little distance they were very puzzling, looking more like a water-beetle grown fat and lazy than aught else.
And so, in everything floatable, the whole male population of that part of the coast came to visit us.We were speedily the centre of a great crowd of canoes, some of which were continually capsizing and spilling their occupants, who took no more notice of such incidents than one would of a sneeze.Underneath a canoe, or on top, made but little difference to these amphibious creatures.They brought nothing with them to trade; in fact, few of their vessels were capable of carrying anything that could not swim and take care of itself.As they came on board, each crossed himself more or less devoutly, revealing the teaching of a Roman Catholic mission; and as they called to one another, it was not hard to recognize, even in their native garb, such names as Erreneo (Irenaeus), Al'seo (Aloysius), and other favourite cognomens of saints.
A laughing chattering good-tempered crowd they were--just like a bevy of children breaking up, and apparently destitute of the slightest sense of responsibility.They spoke a totally different dialect, or maybe language, to that of Vau Vau, for it was only an isolated word here and there that Samuela could make out.But presently, going forward through the crowd that thronged every part of the deck, I saw a man leaning nonchalantly against the rail by the fore-rigging, who struck me at once as being an American negro.The most casual observer would not have mistaken him for a Kanaka of those latitudes, though he might have passed as a Papuan.He was dressed in all the dignity of a woollen shirt, with a piece of fine "tapa" for a waistcloth, feet and legs bare.Around his neck was a necklace composed of a number of strings of blue and white beads plaited up neatly, and carrying as a pendant a George shilling.Going up to him, Ilooked at the coin, and said, "Belitani money?" "Oh yes," he said, "that's a shilling of old Georgey Fourf," in perfectly good English, but with an accent which quite confirmed my first idea.
I at once invited him aft to see the skipper, who was very anxious to find an interpreter among the noisy crowd, besides being somewhat uneasy at having so large a number on board.
To the captain's interrogations he replied that he was "Tui Tongoa"--that is, King of Tonga, an island a little distance away--but that he was at present under a cloud, owing to the success of a usurper, whom he would reckon with by-and-by.
In the mean time he would have no objection to engaging himself with us as a harpooner, and would get us as many men as we wanted, selecting from among the crowd on board, fellows that would, he knew, be useful to us.
A bargain was soon struck, and Tui entered upon his self-imposed task.It was immediately evident that he had a bigger contract on hand than he had imagined.The natives, who had previously held somewhat aloof from him in a kind of deferential respect, no sooner got wind of the fact that we needed some of them than they were seized with a perfect frenzy of excitement.There were, Ishould think, at least a hundred and fifty of them on board at the time.Of this crowd, every member wanted to he selected, pushing his candidature with voice and gesture as vigorously as he knew how.The din was frightful.Tui, centre of the frantic mob, strove vainly to make himself beard, to reduce the chaos to some sort of order, but for a great while it was a hopeless attempt.At last, extricating himself from his importunate friends, he gained the captain's side.Panting, almost breathless, with sweat streaming off him, he gasped out, "Oh, cap'n, dese yer darn niggers all gone mad! Dribe 'em oberbord;clar 'em out, 'n I'll stan' by to grab some o' der likely ones as de res' scatter." "But what about the wages?" said the skipper.
"I'm not goin' ter give 'em whatever they like to ask." " You leab it ter me, cap'n.I bet you'll be satisfy.Anyhow, dishyers no time fer tradin'; de blame niggers all off dere coco-nuts.Anybody fink you'se payin' off 'stead o' shippin', an'
