Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 2 (Stockdale).djvu/266

218 of freestone, which were very small, but retained their lustre.

A smoke which we observed to issue at intervals from a grove at a small distance to the S.S.W. induced us to direct our course that way. We there found two men and a child occupied in broiling, on a fire of charcoal, the roots of a sort of bean, which is known to botanists by the name of dolichos tuberosus, and which the islanders call yalé. They had been but recently dug up, for the stalks were still hanging to them, and were covered with flowers and fruits. They partook of the barrenness of the soil which produced them, the fibres were very stringy, and they were not not more than three-quarters of an inch in thickness, and about ten or eleven inches in length.

We met very near the same spot with a small family, which appeared to be alarmed at our approach. We immediately made each of them a few presents, in hopes of encouraging them, which had the desired effect upon the husband and two children: but one of our people having offered a pair of scissars to the mother; and wishing to shew her the use of them, by cutting off a few of her hairs, the poor woman began instantly to cry; no doubt giving herself up for lost: