, but hanging before and behind in spreading
tassels, composed the entire costume of the stranger.
    He advanced surrounded by the islanders, carrying under one arm a small roll
of the native cloth, and grasping in his other hand a long and richly-decorated
spear. His manner was that of a traveller conscious that he is approaching a
comfortable stage in his journey. Every moment he turned good-humouredly to the
throng around him, and gave some dashing sort of reply to their incessant
queries, which appeared to convulse them with uncontrollable mirth.
    Struck by his demeanour, and the peculiarity of his appearance, so unlike
that of the shaven-crowned and face-tattooed natives in general, I involuntarily
rose as he entered the house, and proffered him a seat on the mats beside me.
But without deigning to notice the civility, or even the more incontrovertible
fact of my existence, the stranger passed on, utterly regardless of me, and
flung himself upon the farther end of the long couch that traversed the sole
apartment of Marheyo's habitation.
    Had the belle of the season, in the pride of her beauty and power, been cut
in a place of public resort by some supercilious exquisite, she could not have
felt greater indignation than I did at this unexpected slight.
    I was thrown into utter astonishment. The conduct of the savages had
prepared me to anticipate from every newcomer the same extravagant expressions
of curiosity and regard. The singularity of his conduct, however, only roused my
desire to discover who this remarkable personage might be, who now engrossed the
attention of everyone.
    Tinor placed before him a calabash of poee-poee, from which the stranger
regaled himself, alternating every mouthful with some rapid exclamation, which
was eagerly caught up and echoed by the crowd that completely filled the house.
When I observed the striking devotion of the natives to him, and their temporary
withdrawal of all attention from myself, I felt not a little piqued. The glory
of Tommo is departed, thought I, and the sooner he removes from the valley the
better. These were my feelings at the moment, and they were prompted by that
glorious principle inherent in all heroic natures - the strong-rooted
determination to have the biggest share of the pudding or go without any of it.
    Marnoo, this all-attractive personage, having satisfied his hunger, and
inhaled a few whiffs from a pipe which was handed to him, launched out into an
harangue which completely enchained the attention of his auditors.
    Little as I understood of the language, yet from his animated gestures and
the varying expression of his features -
