On my landing, I found the king, in the house adjoining to our tent, along with our people who resided on shore.  The moment I got to him, he bestowed upon me a present of a large hog and a quantity of yams.  About the dusk of the evening, a number of men came, and, having sat down in a round group, began to sing in concert with the music of bamboo drums, which were placed in the centre.[165] There were three long ones, and two short.  With these they struck the ground endwise, as before described.  There were two others, which lay on the ground, side by side, and one of them was split or shivered; on these a man kept beating with two small sticks.  They sung three songs while I stayed; and, I was told, that, after I left them, the entertainment lasted till ten o’clock.  They burnt the leaves of the wharra palm for a light; which is the only thing I ever saw them make use of for this purpose.

[Footnote 165:  The same sort of evening concert is performed round the house of the chief, or Tamole, at the Caroline Islands.  “Le Tamole ne s’endort qu’au bruit d’un concert de musique que forme une troupe de jeunes gens, qui s’assemblent le soir, autour de sa maison, et qui chantent, a leur maniere, certaines poesies.”—­Lettres Edifiantes & Curieuses, tom, xv. p. 314.—­D.]

While I was passing the day in attendance on these great men, Mr Anderson, with some others, made an excursion into the country, which furnished him with the following remarks:  “To the westward of the tent, the country is totally uncultivated for near two miles, though quite covered with trees and bushes, in a natural state, growing with the greatest vigour.  Beyond this is a pretty large plain, on which are some cocoa-trees, and a few small plantations that appear to have been lately made; and, seemingly, on ground that has never been cultivated before.  Near the creek, which runs to the westward of the tent, the land is quite flat, and partly overflowed by the sea every tide.  When that retires, the surface is seen to be composed of coral rock, with holes of yellowish mud scattered up and down; and toward the edges, where it is a little firmer, are innumerable little openings, from which issue as many small crabs, of two or three different sorts, which swarm upon the spot, as flies upon a carcase; but are so nimble, that, on being approached, they disappear in an instant, and baffle even the natives to catch any of them.

At this place is a work of art, which shews that these people are capable of some design, and perseverance, when they mean to accomplish any thing.  This work begins, on one side, as a narrow causeway, which, becoming gradually broader, rises, with a gentle ascent, to the height of ten feet, where it is five paces broad, and the whole length seventy-four paces.  Joined to this is a sort of circus, whose diameter is thirty paces, and not above a foot or two higher than the causeway that joins it, with some trees planted