The shore was lined with
hundreds of natives, whose persons were all more or less clothed with
native cloth. Some of the men had on a kind of poncho formed of this
cloth, their legs being uncovered; others wore clumsily fashioned
trousers, and no upper garment except hats made of straw and cloth.
Many of the dresses, both of women and men, were grotesque enough,
being very bad imitations of the European garb; but all wore a dress of
some sort or other. They seemed very glad to see us, and crowded round
us as the teacher led the way to his dwelling, where we were
entertained, in the most sumptuous manner, on baked pig and all the
varieties of fruits and vegetables that the island produced. We were
much annoyed, however, by the rats: they seemed to run about the house
like domestic animals. As we sat at table, one of them peeped up at us
over the edge of the cloth, close to Peterkin's elbow, who floored it
with a blow on the snout from his knife, exclaiming as he did so--
"I say, Mister Teacher, why don't you set traps for these brutes?
Surely you are not fond of them!"
"No," replied the teacher with a smile; "we would be glad to get rid of
them if we could; but if we were to trap all the rats on the island, it
would occupy our whole time."
"Are they, then, so numerous?" inquired Jack.
"They swarm everywhere. The poor heathens on the north side eat them,
and think them very sweet.
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