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O'Connell
goes on in his narrative to describe a number of cultural practices witnessed on the island, some of which are accurate and others
not. His descriptions of the tattooing
process,
canoe and feast hut construction, and tool-making are
flawless. O'Connell also had several adventures,
including a run-in with a hostile chief, Nahnmadau, canoe visits  to
Ant and Pakin
Atoll, and a trip to the ruins of Nan
Madol. Besides the obvious exaggerations in the story, O’Connell makes a number of bizarre
references. He claimed that the occupants of Pakin were
"addicted to cannibalism," a statement which baffles
modern historians. He repeatedly refers to Pohnpei as a group of islands, rather than a single
island. He also describes a slave class with physical
features very different from the rest of the Pohnpeians. Even
more odd are O'Connell's omissions. If he was in fact on
Pohnpei in 1828 and resided in Nett, why does he make no
mention of Fedor Lütke's
visit that same year? The odd geographical
references have led historians to speculate that maybe he had some visual
disability in addition to his vivid imagination.
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