Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 2 (Stockdale).djvu/166

136 forty feet long, placed there by the natives to preserve it against the injuries of the weather.

We were not far from the little island called Nougou Nougou, when some of the natives pointed out to us an islet, by the name of Mackaha, very near Pangaïmotoo. We proceeded toward the last island, and, as the tide was rising, we were obliged to wade up to our middles, to reach it. We soon reached the place, where the queen kept a regular court. It was under the shade of a very bushy bread-fruit tree, at a small distance from our market. There she was giving a concert of vocal music, in which Futtafaihe sung, he regulating the time, which all the musicians followed with the greatest accuracy. Some performed their parts by accompanying the simple melody of the rest with various modulations. In these we occasionally noticed discords, which seemed to be highly agreeable to the ears of the natives.

During this concert we saw a great number of people arrive, each carrying a long pole on his shoulder, at the ends of which hung fish and yams; and with these they immediately formed the base of a quadrangular pyramid, which they built up nearly to the height of two yards. This was a present for General Dentrecasteaux, to whom Tiné was giving an entertainment.