The merchant vessel : a sailor boy's voyages around the world . desired. This is the great cruising ground for sandal-wood hunters, and among these islands they not unfrequentlymeet with large quantities of the precious wood. Sandal-wood, vou must know boys, is brought off by thenatives in sticks of various shapes and sizes, sufficiently smallto be handily stowed in the hold. They are glad to take inexchange such old clothes, trinkets, and bits of iron as thecaptain lets them have. Thus for a few dollars worth of tradevou get several tons of wood, worth in Sydney twenty-fivepounds sterling per
The merchant vessel : a sailor boy's voyages around the world . desired. This is the great cruising ground for sandal-wood hunters, and among these islands they not unfrequentlymeet with large quantities of the precious wood. Sandal-wood, vou must know boys, is brought off by thenatives in sticks of various shapes and sizes, sufficiently smallto be handily stowed in the hold. They are glad to take inexchange such old clothes, trinkets, and bits of iron as thecaptain lets them have. Thus for a few dollars worth of tradevou get several tons of wood, worth in Sydney twenty-fivepounds sterling per ton, and in China about fifty pounds. Turtle-shell is generally gathered by the crew. It was for this moreespecially that we had our boats. Considerable quantities of theshell are washed up on the shores of the islands by the swell,and there it is picked up. It is but seldom that you catch alive turtle, unless you happen to come to an island frequented bythem, where one can watch for them, when they come up onshore at night to deposit their eggs in the THE NATIVE CANOES. 239 Our first harbor for trading was Joannette, one of theSolomon group. Here the natives were reputed quite wild,and we took every precaution to preserve ourselves from anattack. No sooner were our sails lowered than we triced upthe boarding-nettings, and loaded our firearms, the watchon deck being appointed to keep a constant and watchfulguard, while those of us whose turn it was below had leisureto observe the natives launching their canoes preparatory tocoming off. Soon quite a fleet of boats, some containing cocoa-nuts and-other fruits, and chickens, parrots, etc., were paddled off towardus, looking, with their curious outriggers, like enormous lobstersskimming along the surface. How are their outriggers fixed, Tom? The canoes are so narrow, that they would very easilycapsize, and it would be almost impossible even for a nativeto bring one safely through the surf. To remedy this, theyfasten to one
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