Everybody seemed to have brought to market just what he or she
happened to have on hand, however small the quantity. The women would
have one, two, or three new-laid eggs in a leaf basket, one crab or
lobster, three or four prawns, or one little trout. Under these
circumstances, marketing for so large a party as ours was a somewhat
lengthy operation, and I was much amused in watching our _proveedor_,
as he went about collecting things by ones and twos, until he had
piled a little cart quite full, and had had it pushed off to the shady
quay.
[Illustration: Chaetodon Plagmance]
We strolled about until six o'clock, at which hour the purchasers
began to disperse, and were just preparing to depart likewise, when an
old man, carrying half-a-dozen little fish, and followed by a small
boy laden with vegetables and fruit, introduced himself to us as the
brother-in-law of Queen Pomare IV. and chief of Papeete, and, after a
short talk, invited us to visit him at his house. We consented, and,
following him, presently reached a break in the hedge and ditch that
ran along the side of the road, beyond which was a track, bordered by
pineapples and dracaenas, leading to a superior sort of house, built in
the native style, and surrounded, as usual, by bread-fruit, cocoa-nut,
banana, mango, and guava trees.
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