The water in the pond was clear, and
although it was deep, the sand and shells at the bottom of it were
easily seen.
Whilst I was admiring their beauties I was startled by the approach of
a party of natives, the leader of whom, a tall, muscular savage,
marched in front of the others, who followed him with some degree of
order. From the crown of his head to his waist he was plastered with a
red pigment, his frizzled-out hair being ornamented with the plumes of
the bird of Paradise. His dress, composed of tapa cloth, shells, and
feathers, was more elaborate than any I had seen in the islands. In his
hand he carried a spear tipped with white quartz. His followers were
decked in similar fashion. Raising his right arm in token of
friendship, an overture to which I responded, the chief then addressed
me in the same dialect to that used at Cortes' island, which I had
little difficulty in understanding, although some of the words puzzled
me.
"Whence come you?" said he. "From the sun or the sea?"
"From the sea, O chief, whither I will return when my friends, the
white spirits, come for me," I answered.
This reply did not seem to surprise my interrogator, who now desired me
to follow him.
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