"On the 21st the queen came again on board, and brought several large hogs as a present, for which, as usual, she would accept of no return. When she was about to leave the ship, she expressed a desire that I should go on shore with her, to which I consented, taking several of the officers with me. When we arrived at her house she made us all sit down, and taking off my hat she tied to it a bunch or tuft of feathers of various colors, such as I had seen no person on shore wear but herself, which produced by no means a disagreeable effect. She also tied round my hat and the hats of those who were with me wreaths of braided or plaited hair, and gave us to understand that both the hair and workmanship were her own; she also presented us with some mats that were very curiously wrought. In the evening she accompanied us back to the beach, and when we were getting into the boat she put on board a fine large sow, big with young, and a great quantity of fruit. As we were parting I made signs that I should quit the island in seven days. She immediately comprehended my meaning, and made signs that I should stay twenty days; that I should go two days journey into the country, stay there a few days, bring down plenty of hogs and poultry, and after that leave the island. I again made signs that I must go in seven days; upon which she burst into tears, and it was not without great difficulty that she was pacified."

The queen, or properly the chiefess, was no doubt inviting Wallis to visit her own district, and perhaps may have had political reasons, which Wallis did not divine, for the disappointment she showed so strongly. Wallis’s refusal has cost us an irreparable loss in our history. She came aboard again July 25, and stayed till evening:

"As she was going over the ship’s side she asked, by signs, whether I still persisted in my resolution of leaving the island at the

Indigenous Histories