Everything about the island, and the manner of cooking and living in general, interested the young people greatly. Never before had they heard such a chorus of cock crowing in the early morning, or the endless chirpings of numberless chickens, as they followed their busy, clucking mothers. The boys and girls, to whom such a free, wild life was a desirable change from the confinement of a long voyage, entered heartily into the fun of going out in search of hens’ eggs, an abundance of which was found all over the island. The time to them passed quickly, like one long holiday, for in the unsettled state of things they were not confined to any school duties. There was much to hear and tell on both sides. One story that greatly interested the newcomers was that of a Peruvian ship, loaded with natives, that came to Pitcairn from Easter Island the year before, 1863. The captain of the ship, on coming near enough, ordered a boat to be lowered and manned. He himself went in the boat to seek for a landing place. The people on shore observing the boat approaching, two men went off in a canoe to meet the strangers. The captain accosted them with the question, “Can you speak _Anglice_?” Receiving an answer in the affirmative, he said that he was going ashore to see if he could get some sugar cane for a load of slaves he had on board, whom, he informed them, he was taking to their homes. On coming ashore he tried by many arguments to persuade every member of the two families to accompany him back to the ship, where, he assured them, they would receive kind treatment. One thing he objected to was their knowledge of the English language, and he told them also that their skins were not as dark as he expected to find them. The captain’s entreaties for them to go on board, and his oft-repeated expressions of kindness toward them, served to arouse their suspicions, and they firmly declined; however, the two men who had been to meet the boat went on board the ship. There they saw a sight which they could not easily forget. Numbers of poor natives of different ages, from quite young children to men and women in and beyond middle life, many of whom were entirely naked, were crowded into the close and stifling hold of the ship. Those who were not entirely naked had a waistcloth only for their covering. All seemed sad, and their countenances bore the trace of much sorrow, and had a look of hopeless misery. The atmosphere of the place where the poor natives were confined was very unwholesome from want of fresh air, and many of the slaves were suffering from a distressing cough that shook their frames. The captain told them that he was going to the Gambier Islands, on his way to restore the poor creatures to their homes.