"The dishes that most attracted our attention were the puddings made of bananas, bread-fruit, taro, and similar things. The consul told us that each of the ingredients was beaten fine and baked separately, and then they were all worked in together and covered with the thick cream from a ripe cocoanut. Cocoanut-cream is wonderfully rich; when taken by itself it is apt to cloy the stomach and disturb digestion, but used as a sauce for the puddings it is delicious; but you must touch it sparingly, as it is full of oil.
"We sat on the ground to partake of the feast, and had a back-ache afterwards, just as we did in Tahiti. For drink we each had a freshly opened cocoanut-shell, and we took the cocoa-milk as we would take tea or any other beverage in civilized lands. There were some cakes made of putrid bread-fruit, but we did not touch them any more than we did the equally vile-smelling Limburger cheese which one of our entertainers had brought along. The bread-fruit is in season for about half the year; the natives store the fruit in pits lined with banana-leaves, and thus stored the stuff ferments, and soon smells so badly that any person with a sensitive nose cannot bear to come within odoriferous distance. When walking where there are any of these bread-fruit pits we always try to keep to windward.
"Taste and habit are everything. The Germans are nauseated by putrid bread-fruit, while the Samoans are equally intolerant of Limburger. They are horrified when told how long game is kept in England and America before being cooked and eaten, and the merest taste of Worcestershire sauce would spoil their appetites for a whole day at least."
The course of the yacht carried her near Massacre Bay, and Fred naturally inquired why the spot was so called.
"It was so named," replied Doctor Bronson, "because of the massacre of several of the crew, together with the captain, of the _Astrolabe_, one of the ships of La Pérouse, the ill-fated navigator whose death was so long a mystery."
"What were the circumstances of the affair?" was the inquiry which followed this explanation.
"The ships of La Pérouse, the _Boussole_ (compass) and _Astrolabe_ (quadrant), were off the island, and Captain De Lange, who commanded the _Astrolabe_, sent four boats on shore to procure water. They carried sixty soldiers and sailors, and were commanded by De Lange in person. The boats made their way through the reef, and reached the beach without opposition. While the work of watering was going on the natives appeared friendly enough, until suddenly they gave a loud shout, and attacked the Frenchmen with stones and clubs. Captain De Lange was killed, and with him eleven of his men. The rest escaped to the ships, leaving one of their boats aground. La Pérouse endeavored to get inside the reef to punish the natives, but after several days he gave up the attempt and proceeded to Botany Bay, whence he sent an account of the affair to his government."