Revised Jun 1 2021
The night before the St. Kilda's party landed was spent on board in thorough wakefulness. The excitement that prevailed was so great as not to allow of any one's taking rest, and lights were sent up and guns were fired, which greatly alarmed the few people on shore, who could not at all account for all the noise and confusion, and so imagined that something of a very terrible nature was about to befall them. However, when the morning came, all fears were calmed, and it was with a true pleasure that old friends met once again. The younger people were all shy, on first meeting, but that soon gave place to a cordial welcome. The two families were all in the enjoyment of health, two infants only having died. In general, everything was going on well; the only want felt was of clothing, and that, for the time being, wall well supplied, as the new arrivals brought a good supply.
For bedding, what was commonly used was a kind of cloth, manufactured, with much labor and trouble, from the fibrous bark of the paper-mulberry. This tapa, as it is called, has more of the nature of paper than of cloth, and could not stand much washing. To remedy this, however, the cloth is dyed in the juice of the bark of the candle-nut tree, and the juice extracted by steeping in water. The dye is of a reddish color, and renders the cloth tough.
The houses not inhabited were generally in a delapidated state, and the new-comers found homes with the two families, till some place of abode could be provided for them. In a short time, each family had a home of its own.