li lil
(^AP. giving offence. Unwilling to give him any further uneasiness, I per-
May,
1827.
raitted him to go, requesting he would deliver to the mandarin an invitation
to visit the ship, which he promised to do ; and seating himself
and Ills companions on the mat in the boat, ho sculled on shore to the
musical chorus of “ ya-ha-me-shawdy.”
Our decks were by this time crowded with spectators who had
been coming off in boat loads. The place did not appear to afford many
of these conveyances, and they had to go backwards and forwards between
the ship and the shore a great many times, always singing their
boat songs as they sculled themselves along. Our visiters had paid us
the compliment of putting on their best attire, all of which was made
of the grass-cloth in the manner before described; the colours were
various, but mostly blue.
The utmost good breeding was manifested by every one of them,
not only in scrupulously making their bow when they entered and
quitted the ship, but in not allowing their curiosity to carry them
beyond what they thought perfectly correct. They all seemed determined
to be pleased, and were apparently quite happy in being permitted
to indulge their curiosity, ivhich was very great, and bespoke them a
people extremely desirous of information. It was amusing to observe
which objects attracted the particular attention of each individual, which
we thought always accorded with the trade or profession of the party;
for, as we had at different times all the population of Napa on board
the ship, we must have had persons of all occupations. We observed
two of these people, after having gratified their curiosity about the
deck, seat themselves in their canoes, and commence drawing a picture
of the ship—one selected a broadside view, and the other a quarter, each
setting at defiance all rules of perspective. The artist on the quarter
had of course the most difficult task, and drew the stern as a continuation
of the broadside, by which it appeared like an enormous quarter
gallery to the ship. That they might make an exact representation,
they took their station at the distance of twenty feet from the side of the
ship, and commenced their drawing upon a roll of paper about six feet
in length, upon which they pourtrayed not only the outline of the ship
but the heads of all the bolts, the but-ends of the planks, and before it
was finished, no doubt, intended to trace even the grain of the wood. C^AP
AYhatever merit might have been attached to the drawing, the artists
were entitled to commendation for their perseverance, which overcame
Mav,
1827.
evei7 difficulty; and they had some few to contend with. Alittle before
sunset they rolled up their paper and paddled on shore.
We were scarcely up the following morning before our ears were
assailed by the choruses of the boatmen bringing off new visiters to the
ship, who continued to pass between her and the shore the whole of
the day, carrying a fresh set at every trip, so that the harbour if possible
presented a more lively scene than it did the day before : on shore
the walls and housetops were occupied by groups who sat for hours
looking towards the anchorage. Our visiters as before were well dressed
and well bred people, and extremely apprehensive of giving offence or
even of incommoding us.
The mandarin, however, fearful we might experience some annoyance
from having so many people on board without any person to control
them, sent off a trusty little man with a disproportionably long bamboo
cane to keep order, and who was in consequence named Master at
Arms by the seamen. This little man took care that the importance of
his office should not escape notice, and occasionally exercised his baton of
authority, in a manner which seemed to me much too severe for the occasion
; and sometimes even drew forth severe though ineffectual animadversions
from his peaceable countrymen; but as I thought it better
that he should manage matters in his own way, I did not allow him to
be interfered with.
Among the earliest of our visiters were An-yah, Shtafacoo, and Sha-
yoon; three intelligent, good-natured persons, who, I have no doubt, had
a charge to watch our movements. They were the bearers of a present
of a pig and some vegetables. As An-yah had promised, several boats
commenced supplying the ship with water, bringing it off in large tubs*.
In reply to my request that the officers and invalids might be allowed
to walk about on shore, An-yah said he had spoken to the mandann,
• This water proved to be bad, for though it had no very unpleasant taste, itwas found,
upon being analysed, to contain in solution a large proportion of magnesia and some sa lt;
a circumstance which should be borne in mind by vessels obtaining a supply at this place.
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