To the captain’s interrogations he replied that he was “Tui Tongoa”—­that is, King of Tonga, an island a little distance away—­but that he was at present under a cloud, owing to the success of a usurper, whom he would reckon with by-and-by.

In the mean time he would have no objection to engaging himself with us as a harpooner, and would get us as many men as we wanted, selecting from among the crowd on board, fellows that would, he knew, be useful to us.

A bargain was soon struck, and Tui entered upon his self-imposed task.  It was immediately evident that he had a bigger contract on hand than he had imagined.  The natives, who had previously held somewhat aloof from him in a kind of deferential respect, no sooner got wind of the fact that we needed some of them than they were seized with a perfect frenzy of excitement.  There were, I should think, at least a hundred and fifty of them on board at the time.  Of this crowd, every member wanted to be selected, pushing his candidature with voice and gesture as vigorously as he knew how.  The din was frightful.  Tui, centre of the frantic mob, strove vainly to make himself heard, to reduce the chaos to some sort of order, but for a great while it was a hopeless attempt.  At last, extricating himself from his importunate friends, he gained the captain’s side.  Panting, almost breathless, with sweat streaming off him, he gasped out, “Oh, cap’n, dese yer darn niggers all gone mad!  Dribe ’em oberbord; clar ’em out, ‘n I’ll stan’ by to grab some o’ der likely ones as de res’ scatter.”  “But what about the wages?” said the skipper.  “I’m not goin’ ter give ’em whatever they like to ask.”  “You leab it ter me, cap’n.  I bet you’ll be satisfy.  Anyhow, dishyers no time fer tradin’; de blame niggers all off dere coco-nuts.  Anybody fink you’se payin’ off ‘stead o’ shippin’, an’ deyse all afraid dey won’t get ’nough.”

Unpleasant as the job was to all of us, it had to be done; so we armed ourselves with ropes’-ends, which we flourished threateningly, avoiding where possible any actual blows.  Many sprang overboard at once, finding their way ashore or to their canoes as best they could.  The majority, however, had to swim, for we now noticed that, either in haste or from carelessness, they had in most cases omitted to fasten their canoes securely when coming alongside, so that many of them were now far out to sea.  The distance to shore being under three miles, that mattered little, as far as their personal safety was concerned.

This summary treatment was eminently successful, quiet being rapidly restored, so that Tui was able to select a dozen men, who he declared were the best in the islands for our purpose.  Although it seems somewhat premature to say so, the general conduct of the successful candidates was so good as to justify Tui fully in his eulogium.  Perhaps his presence had something to do with it?