I Offered Them To A Grave Old Man, Thinking He Was A
Proper Person To Entrust Them With; But He Shook His Head, And He And All
Present, Made Signs To Take Them Into The Boat Again.
When they saw I did
not comply, they seemed to consult with one another what was to be done;
and then our guide told me to carry them to the Alekee (chief).
Accordingly
I ordered them to be taken up, and we were conducted by him to a house,
wherein were seated, in a circle, eight or ten middle-aged persons. To them
I and my pigs being introduced, with great courtesy they desired me to sit
down; and then I began to expatiate on the merits of the two pigs,
explaining to them how many young ones the female would have at one time,
and how soon these would multiply to some hundreds. My only motive was to
enhance their value, that they might take the more care of them; and I had
reason to think I in some measure succeeded. In the mean time, two men
having left the company, soon returned with six yams, which were presented
to me; and then I took my leave and went on board.
I have already observed, that here was a little village; I now found it
much larger than I expected; and about it, a good deal of cultivated land,
regularly laid out, planted and planting with taro or eddy root, yams,
sugar-canes, and plantains.
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