The proposal was one which delighted the Admiral, who enjoyed everything that was new.

He posted himself accordingly in his barge near the spot, but he allowed the task to be turned over entirely to the black fellows, whom he ordered to be supplied with ropes, spars, and anything else they required from the ship.

The officers and sailors, in imitation of their chief, clustered themselves in wondering groups in the rigging, in the chains, and in the boats, to witness the strange spectacle of a huge bower anchor, weighing nearly four tons, raised off the ground by a set of native fishermen, possessed of no canoe larger than the smallest gig on board.
The master-attendant stood interpreter, and passed backwards and forwards between the ship and the scene of operations--not to direct, but merely to signify what things the natives required for their purpose.

They first begged us to have a couple of spare topmasts and topsail-yards, with a number of smaller spars, such as top-gallant masts and studding-sail booms.

Out of these they formed, with wonderful speed, an exceedingly neat cylindrical raft, between two and three feet in diameter.