[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR engine]
26 WITH NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC
Vila only became the capital of the islands when
the English influence grew stronger, while all the
land round Port Havannah belonged to a French
company.
We spent the afternoon on shore shooting pigeons.
Besides a few ducks, flying-foxes and wild pigs,
pigeons are the only game in the islands; but this
pigeon-shooting is a peculiar sport and requires a
special enthusiasm to afford pleasure for any length
of time. The birds are extremely shy and generally
sit on the tops of the highest trees where a European
can hardly discover them. The natives, however, are
very clever in detecting them, but when they try to
show you the pigeon it generally flies off and is lost;
and if you shoot it, it is hard to find, even for
a native. The natives themselves are CAPABLE of
approaching the birds noiselessly and unseen, because
of their colour, so as to shoot them from a short
distance. My pigeon-shooting usually consisted in
waiting for several hours in the forest, with very
unsatisfactory results, so that I soon gave it up.
We were all unsuccessful on this particular day,
but it ended most gaily with a dance at the house of
a French planter.
We slept on board, rocked softly by the ship,
against which the waves plashed in cosy whispering.
The sky was bright with stars, but below decks it
was dark and stuffy. Now and then a big fish
jumped out of the black sea, otherwise it was quiet,
dull and gloomy as a dismal dream.
