In the same way, their inferiors accosted the seamen; and thus the practice has continued in some islands down to the present day.
There is a small place, not many days' sail from Tahiti, and seldom visited by shipping, where the vessel touched to which I then happened to belong.
Of course, among the simple-hearted natives, We had a friend all round.

Mine was Poky, a handsome youth, who never could do enough for me.

Every morning at sunrise, his canoe came alongside loaded with fruits of all kinds; upon being emptied, it was secured by a line to the bowsprit, under which it lay all day long, ready at any time to carry its owner ashore on an errand.
Seeing him so indefatigable, I told Poky one day that I was a virtuoso in shells and curiosities of all kinds.

That was enough; away he paddled for the head of the bay, and I never saw him again for twenty-four hours.

The next morning, his canoe came gliding slowly along the shore with the full-leaved bough of a tree for a sail.