The white man hailed us and inquired where we were from. We told him, and that we were in pursuit of a ship which we had heard was at Myambooa. He told us that it was the ship Clay, of Salem, Capt. Benjamin Vandaford, and that he was the second officer. He said they were on a trading voyage for sandalwood and beche de mer, and that he was now bound to Ambow, having heard of there being turtle shell and some dollars there. He inquired as to the truth of the report and we told him we knew of none, except what the king had in his possession. David offered to go back with him to assist in trading, and after some hesitation he took him. We then proceeded to the ship. I was invited on board and kindly received by the captain and his officers, and soon acquainted them with my story, and engaged passage in the ship to act as interpreter and assist in procuring a cargo. This was in October, 1827. The next day the chief of the island visited us, bringing with him some sandalwood for a present to the captain. The captain wished me to tell him that he wanted a house built for curing beche de mer on the south side of the bay. The chief agreed to build the house, but advised having it on the other side of the bay, as there was not timber enough on the south side and it would take some time to transport it. The captain, however, insisted upon having it built on the south side, as it would be nearer the ship and more convenient landing. So he went on shore and selected the site, and the chief soon had the whole tribe at work cutting timber. The location of the house was such that it could be protected by the ship's guns in case of attack from the natives. The work progressed so fast that the house was soon ready. When the pots were set and everything prepared for curing the beche de mer, the captain sent me off to the reef with a boat's crew after the fish, which we found quite plenty and we soon returned with a boat-load. After breakfast they were landed and prepared for cooking and curing. The method of doing this is as follows: The fish is cut open at the mouth and the entrails squeezed out. It is then boiled for half to three-quarters of an hour, then skimmed out and laid on a flake to drain. When sufficiently cool it is squeezed with the hands, put into baskets and carried to the drying house, where it is spread on flakes built over a trench, in which there is a slow fire. After remaining there twenty-four hours it is shifted to a flake above, where it remains two or three days. It is then put into bags and carried to the ship, where it is carefully picked over, and what is sufficiently cured is sewed up in bags, weighed, and stowed away ready for market.