Volume 12 / Part 3 / Book 1 — CHAPTER II. (continued 3)

On Saturday the 11th, in the afternoon, the gunner came on board with a tall woman, who seemed to be about five-and-forty years of age, of a pleasing countenance and majestic department. He told me that she was but just come into that part of the country, and that seeing great respect paid her by the rest of the natives, he had made her some presents; in return for which she had invited him to her house, which was about two miles up the valley, and gave him some large hogs; after which she returned with him to the watering-place, and expressed a desire to go on board the ship, in which he had thought it proper, on all accounts, that she should be gratified. She seemed to be under no restraint, either from diffidence or fear, when she first came into the ship; and she behaved, all the while she was on board, with an easy freedom, that always distinguishes conscious superiority and habitual command. I gave her a large blue mantle, that reached from her shoulders to her feet, which I threw over her, and tied on with ribbands; I gave her also a looking-glass, beads of several sorts, and many other things, which she accepted with a very good grace, and much pleasure. She took notice that I had been ill, and pointed to the shore. I understood that she meant I should go thither to perfect my recovery, and I made signs that I would go thither the next morning. When she intimated an inclination to return, I ordered the gunner to go with her who, having set her on shore, attended her to her habitation, which he described as being very large and well built. He said, that in this house she had many guards and domestics, and that she had another at a little distance, which was enclosed in lattice-work.

The next morning I went on shore for the first time; and my princess, or rather queen, for such by her authority she appeared to be, soon after came to me, followed by many of her attendants. As she perceived that my disorder had left me very weak, she ordered her people to take me in their arms, and carry me not only over the river, but all the way to her house; and observing that some of the people who were with me, particularly the first lieutenant and purser, had also been sick, she caused them also to be carried in the same manner, and a guard, which I had ordered out upon the occasion, followed. In our way, a vast multitude crowded about us, but upon her waving her hand, without speaking a word, they withdrew, and left us a free passage. When we approached near her house, a great number of both sexes came out to meet her: These she presented to me, after having intimated by signs that they were her relations, and taking hold of my hand, she made them kiss it. We then entered the house, which covered a piece of ground 327 feet long, and forty-two feet broad. It consisted of a roof, thatched with palm leaves, and raised upon thirty-nine pillars on each side, and fourteen in the middle. The ridge of the thatch, on the inside, was thirty feet high, and the sides of the house, to the edge of the roof, were twelve feet high; all below the roof being open. As soon as we entered the house, she made us sit down, and then calling four young girls, she assisted them to take off my shoes, draw down my stockings, and pull off my coat, and then directed them to smooth down the skin, and gently chafe it with their hands: The same operation was also performed upon the first lieutenant and purser, but upon none of those who appeared to be in health. While this was doing, our surgeon, who had walked till he was very warm, took off his wig to cool and refresh himself: A sudden exclamation of one of the Indians who saw it, drew the attention of the rest, and in a moment every eye was fixed upon the prodigy, and every operation was suspended: the whole assembly stood some time motionless, in silent astonishment, which could not have been more strongly expressed if they had discovered that our friend's limbs had been screwed on to the trunk; in a short time, however, the young women who were chafing us, resumed their employment, and having continued it for about half an hour, they dressed us again, but in this they were, as may easily be imagined, very awkward; I found great benefit however, from the chafing, and so did the lieutenant and purser. After a little time, our generous benefactress ordered some bales of Indian cloth to be brought out, with which she clothed me, and all that were with me, according to the fashion of the country. At first I declined the acceptance of this favour, but being unwilling not to seem pleased with what was intended to please me, I acquiesced. When we went away, she ordered a very large sow, big with young, to be taken down to the boat, and accompanied us thither herself. She had given directions to her people to carry me, as they had done when I came, but as I chose rather to walk, she took me by the arm, and whenever we came to a plash of water or dirt, she lifted me over with as little trouble as it would have cost me to have lifted over a child if I had been well.

The next morning I sent her by the gunner, six hatchets, six bill-hooks, and several other things; and when he returned, he told me, that he found her giving an entertainment to a great number of people, which, he supposed, could not be less than a thousand. The messes were all brought to her by the servants that prepared them, the meat being put into the shells of cocoa-nuts, and the shells into wooden trays, somewhat like those used by our butchers, and she distributed them with her own hands to the guests, who were seated in rows round the great house. When this was done, she sat down herself, upon a place somewhat elevated above the rest, and two women, placing themselves one on each side of her, fed her, she opening her mouth as they brought their hands up with the food. When she saw the gunner, she ordered a mess for him; he could not certainly tell what it was, but he believed it to be fowl picked small, with apples cut among it, and seasoned with salt water; it was, however, very well tasted. She accepted the things that I sent her, and seemed to be much pleased with them. After this correspondence was established with the queen, provisions of every kind became much more plenty at market; but though fowls and hogs were every day brought in, we were still obliged to pay more for them than at the first, the market having been spoiled by the nails which our men had stolen and given to the women; I therefore gave orders that every man should be searched before he went on shore, and that no woman should be suffered to cross the river.

On the 14th, the gunner being onshore to trade, perceived an old woman on the other side of the river, weeping bitterly: When she saw that she had drawn his attention upon her, she sent a young man, who stood by her, over the river to him, with a branch of the plantain tree in his hand. When he came up, he made a long speech, and then laid down his bough at the gunner's feet: After this he went back and brought over the old woman, another man at the same time bringing over two large fat hogs. The woman looked round upon our people with great attention, fixing her eyes sometimes upon one, and sometimes upon another, and at last burst into tears. The young man who brought her over the river, perceiving the gunner's concern and astonishment, made another speech, longer than the first: Still, however, the woman's distress was a mystery; but at length she made him understand that her husband, and three of her sons, had been killed in the attack of the ship. During this explanation, she was so affected, that at last she sunk down unable to speak, and the two young men who endeavoured to support her, appeared to be nearly in the same condition? They were probably two more of her sons, or some very near relations. The gunner did all in his power to sooth and comfort her, and when she had in some measure recovered her recollection, she ordered the two hogs to be delivered to him, and gave him her hand in token of friendship, but would accept nothing in return, though he offered her ten times as much as would have purchased the hogs at market.

The next morning, I sent the second lieutenant, with all the boats, and sixty men, to the westward, to look at the country, and try what was to be got. About noon he returned, having marched along the shore near six miles. He found the country very pleasant and populous, and abounding as well with hogs and fowls, as fruit, and other vegetables of various kinds. The inhabitants offered him no molestation, but did not seem willing to part with any of the provisions which our people were most desirous to purchase: They gave them, however, a few cocoa-nuts and plantains, and at length sold them nine hogs and a few fowls. The lieutenant was of opinion, that they might be brought to trade freely by degrees, but the distance from the ship was so great, that too many men would be necessary for a guard. He saw a great number of very large canoes upon the beach, and some that were building. He observed that all their tools were made of stone, shells, and bone, and very justly inferred, that they had no metal of any kind. He found no quadrupeds among them, besides hogs and dogs, nor any earthen vessel, so that all their food is either baked or roasted. Having no vessel in which water could be subjected to the action of fire, they had no more idea that it could be made hot, than that it could be made solid. As the queen was one morning at breakfast with us on board the ship, one of her attendants, a man of some note, and one of those that we thought were priests, saw the surgeon fill the tea-pot by turning the cock of an urn that stood upon the table: Having remarked this with great curiosity and attention, he presently turned the cock, and received the water upon his hand: As soon as he felt himself scalded, he roared out, and began to dance about the cabin with the most extravagant and ridiculous expressions of pain and astonishment: The other Indians not being able to conceive what was the matter with him, stood staring at him in amaze, and not without some mixture of terror. The surgeon, however, who had innocently been the cause of the mischief, applied a remedy, though it was some time before the poor fellow was easy.

On Thursday the 16th, Mr Furneaux, my second lieutenant, was taken very ill, which distressed me greatly, as the first lieutenant was not yet recovered, and I was still in a very weak state myself: I was this day also obliged once more to punish Proctor, the corporal of marines, for mutinous behaviour. The queen had now been absent several days, but the natives made us understand, by signs, that the next day she would be with us again.

Accordingly the next morning she came down to the beach, and soon after a great number of people, whom we had never seen before, brought to market provisions of every kind; and the gunner sent off fourteen hogs, and fruit in great plenty.

In the afternoon of the next day, the queen came on, board, with a present of two large hogs, for she never condescended to barter, and in the evening she returned on shore. I sent a present with her, by the master, and as soon as they landed, she took him by the hand, and having made a long speech to the people that flocked round them, she led him to her house, where she clothed him, as she had before done me, according to the fashion of the country.

The next morning he sent off a greater quantity of stock than we had ever procured in one day before; it consisted of forty-eight hogs and pigs, four dozen of fowls, with bread-fruit, bananas, apples, and cocoa-nuts, almost without number.

On the 20th, we continued to trade with good success, but in the afternoon it was discovered that Francis Pinckney, one of the seamen, had drawn the cleats to which the main sheet was belayed, and, after stealing the spikes, thrown them overboard. Having secured the offender, I called all the people together upon the deck, and after taking some pains to explain his crime, with all its aggravations, I ordered that he should be whipt with nettles, while he ran the gauntlet thrice round the deck: My rhetoric, however, had very little effect, for most of the crew being equally criminal with himself, he was handled so tenderly, that others were rather encouraged to repeat the offence by the hope of impunity, than deterred by the fear of punishment. To preserve the ship, therefore, from being pulled to pieces, and the price of refreshments from being raised so high as soon to exhaust our articles of trade, I ordered that no man except the wooders and waterers, with their guard, should be permitted to go on shore.

On the 21st, the queen came again on board, and brought several large hogs as a present, for which, as usual, she would accept of no return. When she was about to leave the ship, she expressed a desire that I should go on shore with her, to which I consented, taking several of the officers with me. When we arrived at her house, she made us all sit down, and taking off my hat, she tied to it a bunch or tuft of feathers of various colours, such as I had seen no person on shore wear but herself, which produced by no means a disagreeable effect. She also tied round my hat, and the hats of those who were with me, wreaths of braided or plaited hair, and gave us to understand that both the hair and workmanship were her own: She also presented us with some matts, that were very curiously wrought. In the evening she accompanied us back to the beach, and when we were getting into the boat, she put on board a fine large sow, big with young, and a great quantity of fruit. As we were parting, I made signs that I should quit the island in seven days: She immediately comprehended my meaning, and made signs that I should stay twenty days; that I should go two days journey into the country, stay there a few days, bring down plenty of hogs and poultry, and after that leave the island. I again made signs, that I must go in seven days; upon which she burst into tears, and it was not without great difficulty that she was pacified.

The next morning, the gunner sent off no less than twenty hogs, with great plenty of fruit. Our decks were now quite full of hogs and poultry, of which we killed only the small ones, and kept the other for sea-stores; we found, however, to our great mortification, that neither the fowls nor the hogs could, without great difficulty, be brought to eat any thing but fruit, which made it necessary to kill them faster than we should otherwise have done; two, however, a boar and a sow, were brought alive to England, of which I made a present to Mr Stephens, secretary to the Admiralty; the sow afterwards died in pigging, but the boar was alive at the date of this publication.

On the 23d, we had very heavy rain, with a storm of wind that blew down several trees on shore, though very little of it was felt where the ship lay.

The next day, I sent the old man, who had been of great service to the gunner at the market-tent, another iron pot, some hatchets and bills, and a piece of cloth. I also sent the queen two turkies, two geese, three Guinea hens, a cat big with kitten, some china, looking-glasses, glass-bottles, shirts, needles, thread, cloth, ribbands, pease, some small white kidney beans, called callivances, and about sixteen different sorts of garden seeds, and a shovel, besides a considerable quantity of cutlery wares, consisting of knives, scissars, billhooks, and other things. We had already planted several sorts of the garden seeds, and some pease in several places, and had the pleasure to see them come up in a very flourishing state, yet there were no remains of them when Captain Cook left the island. I sent her also two iron pots, and a few spoons. In return for these things, the gunner brought off eighteen hogs, and some fruit.

In the morning of the 25th, I ordered Mr Gore, one of the mates, with all the marines, forty seamen, and four midshipmen, to go up the valley by the river as high as they could, and examine the soil and produce of the country, noting the trees and plants which they should find, and when they saw any stream from the mountains, to trace it to its source, and observe whether it was tinctured with any mineral or ore. I cautioned them also to keep continually upon their guard against the natives, and directed them to make a fire, as a signal, if they should be attacked. At the same time I took a guard on shore, and erected a tent on a point of land, to observe an eclipse of the sun, which, the morning being very clear, was done with great accuracy.

Hours. Min. Sec. The immersion began, by true time, at-- 6 51 50 The emersion, by true time, was at- - - 8 1 O The duration of the eclipse was- - - - 1 9 10

The latitude of the point, on which the observation was made, was 17° 30'S., the sun's declination was 19° 40'N., and the variation of the needle 5° 36' E.

After the observation was taken, I went to the queen's house, and shewed her the telescope, which was a reflector. After she had admired its structure, I endeavoured to make her comprehend its use, and fixing it so as to command several distant objects, with which she was well acquainted, but which could not be distinguished with the naked eye, I made her look through it. As soon as she saw them, she started back with astonishment, and, directing her eye as the glass was pointed, stood some time motionless and silent; she then looked through the glass again, and again sought in vain, with the naked eye, for the objects which it discovered. As they by turns vanished and re-appeared, her countenance and gestures expressed a mixture of wonder and delight which no language can describe. When the glass was removed, I invited her, and several of the chiefs that were with her, to go with me on board the ship, in which I had a view to the security of the party that I had sent out; for I thought that while the queen and the principal people were known to be in my power, nothing would be attempted against any person belonging to the ship on shore. When we got on board, I ordered a good dinner for their entertainment, but the queen would neither eat nor drink; the people that were with her eat very heartily of whatever was set before them, but would drink only plain water.

In the evening our people returned from their excursion, and came down to the beach, upon which I put the queen and her attendants into the boats, and sent them on shore. As she was going over the ship's side, she asked, by signs, whether I still persisted in my resolution of leaving the island at the time I had fixed; and when I made her understand that it was impossible I should stay longer, she expressed her regret by a flood of tears, which for a while took away her speech. As soon as her passion subsided, she told me that she would come on board again the next day; and thus we parted.

SECTION VII.

An Account of an Expedition to discover the Inland Part of the Country, and our other Transactions, till we quitted the Island to continue our Voyage. After the mate came on board, he gave me a written account of his expedition, to the following effect:

"At four o'clock in the morning of Saturday the 25th of June, I landed, with four midshipmen, a Serjeant and twelve marines, and twenty-four seamen, all armed, besides four, who carried hatchets and other articles of traffic, and four who were loaded with ammunition and provisions, the rest being left with the boat: Every man had his day's allowance of brandy, and the hatchet-men two small kegs, to give out when I should think proper."

"As soon as I got on shore, I called upon our old man, and took him with us: We then followed the course of the river in two parties, one marching on each side. For the first two miles it flowed through a valley of considerable width, in which were many habitations, with gardens walled in, and abundance of hogs, poultry, and fruit; the soil here seemed to be a rich fat earth, and was of a blackish colour. After this the valley became very narrow, and the ground rising abruptly on one side of the river, we were all obliged to march on the other. Where the stream was precipitated from the hills, channels had been cut to lead the water into gardens and plantations of fruit-trees: In these gardens we found an herb which had never been brought down to the water-side, and which we perceived the inhabitants eat raw. I tasted it, and found it pleasant, its flavour somewhat resembling that of the West Indian spinnage, called Calleloor, though its leaf was very different. The ground was fenced off so as to make a very pretty appearance; the bread-fruit and apple-trees were planted in rows on the declivity of the hills, and the cocoa-nut and plantain, which require more moisture, on the level ground: Under the trees, both on the sides and at the foot of the hills, there was very good grass, but no underwood. As we advanced, the windings of the stream became innumerable, the hills on each side swelled into mountains, and vast crags every where projected over our heads. Travelling now became difficult, and when we had proceeded about four miles, the road for the last mile having been very bad, we sat down to rest ourselves, and take the refreshment of our breakfast; we ranged ourselves upon the ground under a large apple tree, in a very pleasant spot; but just as we were about to begin our repast, we were suddenly alarmed by a confused sound of many voices, and a great shouting, and presently, afterwards saw a multitude of men, women, and children, upon the hill above us; our old man seeing us rise hastily, and look to our arms, beckoned to us to sit still, and immediately went up to the people that had surprised us. As soon as he joined them they were silent, and soon after disappeared; in a short time, however, they returned, and brought with them a large hog ready roasted, with plenty of bread-fruit, yams, and other refreshments, which they gave to the old man, who distributed them among our people. In return for this treat, I gave them some nails, buttons, and other things, with which they were greatly delighted. After this we proceeded up the valley as far as we could, searching all the runs of water, and all the places where water had run, for appearances of metal or ore, but could find none, except what I have brought back with me. I shewed all the people that we met with, the piece of saltpetre which had been picked up in the island, and which I had taken with me for that purpose, but none of them took any notice of it, nor could I learn from them any thing about it. The old man began now to be weary, and there being a mountain before us, he made signs that he would go home: Before he left us, however, he made the people who had so liberally supplied us with provisions, take the baggage, with the fruit that had not been eaten, and some cocoa-nut shells full of fresh water, and made signs that they should follow us up the side of the mountain. As soon as he was gone, they gathered green branches from the neighbouring trees, and with many ceremonies, of which we did not know the meaning, laid them down before us: After this they took some small berries with which they painted themselves red, and the bark of a tree that contained a yellow juice, with which they stained their garments in different parts. We began to climb the mountain while our old man was still in sight, and he, perceiving that we made our way with difficulty through the weeds and brush-wood, which grew very thick, turned back, and said something to the natives in a firm loud tone; upon which twenty or thirty of the men went before us, and cleared us a very good path; they also refreshed us with water and fruit as we went along, and assisted us to climb the most difficult places, which we should otherwise have found altogether impracticable. We began to ascend this hill at the distance of about six miles from the place where we landed, and I reckoned the top of it to be near a mile above the river that runs through the valley below. When we arrived at the summit, we again sat down to rest and refresh ourselves. While we were climbing we flattered ourselves that from the top we should command the whole island, but we now saw mountains before us so much higher than our situation, that with respect to them we appeared to be in a valley; towards the ship indeed the view was enchanting: The sides of the hills were beautifuly clothed with wood, villages were every where interspersed, and the vallies between them afforded a still richer prospect; the houses stood thicker, and the verdure was more luxuriant. We saw very few habitations above us, but discovered smoke in many places ascending from between the highest hills that were in sight, and therefore I conjectured that the most elevated parts of the country are by no means without inhabitants. As we ascended the mountain, we saw many springs gush from fissures on the side of it, and when we had reached the summit, we found many houses that we did not discover as we passed them. No part of these mountains is naked; the summits of the highest that we could see were crowned with wood, but of what kind I know not: Those that were of the same height with that which we had climbed, were woody on the sides, but on the summit were rocky and covered with fern. Upon the flats that appeared below these, there grew a sedgy kind of grass and weeds: In general the soil here, as well as in the valley, seemed to be rich. We saw several bushes of sugar-cane, which was very large and very good, growing wild, without the least culture. I likewise found ginger and turmerick, and have brought samples of both, but could not procure seeds of any tree, most of them being in blossom. After traversing the top of this mountain to a good distance, I found a tree exactly like a fern, except that it was 14 or 15 feet high. This tree I cut down, and found the inside of it also like a fern: I would have brought a piece of it with me, but found it too cumbersome, and I knew not what difficulties we might meet with before we got back to the ship, which we judged to be now at a great distance. After having recruited our strength by refreshment and rest, we began to descend the mountain, being still attended by the people to whose care we had been recommended by our old man. We kept our general direction towards the ship, but sometimes deviated a little to the right and left in the plains and vallies, when we saw any houses that were pleasantly situated, the inhabitants being every where ready to accommodate us with whatever they had. We saw no beasts except a few hogs, nor any birds, except parrots, parroquets, and green doves; by the river, however, there was plenty of ducks, and every place that was planted and cultivated, appeared to flourish with great luxuriance, though in the midst of what had the appearance of barren ground. I planted the stones of peaches, cherries, and plumbs, with a great variety of garden: seeds, where I thought it was most probable they would thrive, and limes, lemons, and oranges, in situations which resembled those in which they are found in the West Indies. In the afternoon, we arrived at a very pleasant spot, within about three miles of the ship, where we procured two hogs and some fowls, which the natives dressed for us very well, and with great expedition. Here we continued till the cool of the evening, and then made the best of our way for the ship, having liberally rewarded our guides, and the people who had provided us so good a dinner. Our men behaved through the whole day with the greatest decency and order, and we parted with our Indian friends in perfect good humour with each other."

About 10 o'clock the next morning, the queen came on board according to her promise, with a present of hogs and fowls, but went on shore again soon afterwards. This day, the gunner sent off near thirty hogs, with great plenty of fowls and fruit. We completed our wood and water, and got all ready for sea. More inhabitants came down to the beach, from the inland country, than we had seen before, and many of them appeared, by the respect that was paid them, to be of a superior rank. About three o'clock in the afternoon, the queen came again down to the beach, very well dressed, and followed by a great number of people. Having crossed the river with her attendants and our old man, she came once more on board the ship. She brought with her some very fine fruit, and renewed her solicitation, that I would stay ten days longer, with great earnestness, intimating that she would go into the country and bring me plenty of hogs, fowls, and fruit. I endeavoured to express a proper sense of her kindness and bounty, but assured her that I should certainly sail the next morning. This, as usual, threw her into tears, and after she recovered, she enquired by signs when I should return: I endeavoured to express fifty days, and she made signs for thirty: But the sign for fifty being constantly repeated, she seemed satisfied. She stayed on board till night, and it was then with the greatest difficulty that she could be prevailed upon to go on shore. When she was told that the boat was ready, she threw herself down upon the arm-chest, and wept a long time with an excess of passion that could not be pacified; at last, however, though with great reluctance, she went into the boat, and was followed by her attendants and the old man. The old man had often intimated that his son, a lad about fourteen years of age, should go with us, and the boy seemed to be willing: He had, however, now disappeared for two days; I enquired after him when I first missed him, and the old man gave me to understand that he was gone into the country to see his friends, and would return time enough to go with us; but I have reason to think that, when the time drew near, the father's courage failed, and that to keep his child he secreted him till the ship was gone, for we never saw him afterwards.

At break of day, on Monday the 27th, we unmoored, and at the same time I sent the barge and cutter to fill the few water-casks that were now empty. When they came near the shore, they saw, to their great surprise, the whole beach covered with inhabitants, and having some doubt whether it would be prudent to venture themselves among such a multitude, they were about to pull back again for the ship. As soon as this was perceived from the shore, the queen came forward, and beckoned them; at the same time guessing the reason of what had happened, she made the natives retire to the other side of the river; the boats then proceeded to the shore, and filled the casks; in the mean time she put some hogs and fruit on hoard, and when they were putting off would fain have returned with them to the ship. The officer, however, who had received orders to bring off none of the natives, would not permit her; upon which she presently launched a double canoe, and was rowed off by her own people. Her canoe was immediately followed by fifteen or sixteen more, and all of them came up to the ship. The queen came on board, but not being able to speak, she sat down and gave vent to her passion by weeping. After she had been on board about an hour, a breeze springing up, we weighed anchor and made sail. Finding it now necessary to return into her canoe, she embraced us all in the most affectionate manner, and with many tears; all her attendants also expressed great sorrow at our departure. Soon after it fell calm, and I sent the boats a-head to tow, upon which all the canoes returned to the ship, and that which had the queen on board came up to the gunroom port, where her people made it fast. In a few minutes she came into the bow of her canoe, where she sat weeping with inconsolable sorrow. I gave her many things which I thought would be of great use to her, and some for ornament; she silently accepted of all, but took little notice of any thing. About 10 o'clock we were got without the reef, and a fresh breeze springing up, our Indian friends, and particularly the queen, once more bade us farewell, with such tenderness of affection and grief, as filled both my heart and my eyes.[53]

At noon, the harbour from which we sailed bore S.E. 1/2 E. distant about twelve miles. It lies in latitude 17° 30' S., longitude 150° W., and I gave it the name of Port Royal Harbour.

[Footnote 53 1: Of this queen, as Captain W. calls her, the reader will see more particulars in the account of Cook's visit to this island. Her name was Oberea. She was wife to Oammo, who governed the greater part of Otaheite in behalf of his son, according to the custom of the place; but at the time of Wallis's arrival, she cohabited with Toopäea, a native of Ulietëa, and remarkable among these islanders for his wisdom and information.--E.]

SECTION VIII.

A more particular Account of the Inhabitants of Otaheite, and of their domestic Life, Manners, and Arts.

Having lain off this island from the 24th of June to the 27th of July, I shall now give the best account of its inhabitants, with their manners and arts, that I can; but having been in a very bad state of health the whole time, and for great part of it confined to my bed, it will of necessity be much less accurate and particular than I might otherwise have made it.

The inhabitants of this island are a stout, well-made, active, and comely people. The stature of the men, in general, is from five feel seven to five feet ten inches, though a few individuals are taller, and a few shorter; that of the women from five feet to five feet six. The complexion of the men is tawney, but those that go upon the water are much redder than those who live on shore. Their hair in general is black, but in some it is brown, in some red, and in others flaxen, which is remarkable, because the hair of all other natives of Asia, Africa, and America, is black, without a single exception. It is generally tied up, either in one bunch, in the middle of the head, or in two, one on each side, but some wear it loose, and it then curls very strongly: In the children of both sexes it is generally flaxen. They have no combs, yet their hair is very neatly dressed, and those who had combs from us, made good use of them. It is a universal custom to anoint the head with cocoa-nut oil, in which a root has been scraped that smells something like roses. The women are all handsome, and some of them extremely beautiful. Chastity does not seem to be considered as a virtue among them, for they not only readily and openly trafficked with our people for personal favours, but were brought down by their fathers and brothers for that purpose: They were, however, conscious of the value of beauty, and the size of the nail that was demanded for the enjoyment of the lady, was always in proportion to her charms. The men who came down to the side of the river, at the same time that they presented the girl, shewed a stick of the size of the nail that was to be her price, and if our people agreed, she was sent over to them, for the men were not permitted to cross the river. This commerce was carried on a considerable time before the officers discovered it, for while some straggled a little way to receive the lady, the others kept a look-out. When I was acquainted with it, I no longer wondered that the ship was in danger of being pulled to pieces for the nails and iron that held her together, which I had before puzzled myself to account for in vain, the whole ship's company having daily as much fresh provision and fruit as they could eat. Both men and women are not only decently but gracefully clothed, in a kind of white cloth, that is made of the bark of a shrub, and very much resembles coarse China paper. Their dress consists of two pieces of this cloth: One of them, a hole having been made in the middle to put the head through hangs down from the shoulders to the mid leg before and behind; another piece, which is between four and five yards long, and about one yard broad, they wrap round the body in a very easy manner. This cloth is not woven, but is made, like paper, of the macerated fibres of an inner bark spread out and beaten together. Their ornaments are feathers, flowers, pieces of shells, and pearls: The pearls are worn chiefly by the women, from whom I purchased about two dozen of a small size: They were of a good colour, but were all spoiled by boring. Mr Furneaux saw several in his excursion to the west, but he could purchase none with any thing he had to offer. I observed, that it was here a universal custom both for men and women to have the hinder part of their thighs and loins marked very thick with black lines in various forms. These marks were made by striking the teeth of an instrument, somewhat like a comb, just through the skin, and rubbing into the punctures a kind of paste made of soot and oil, which leaves an indelible stain. The boys and girls under twelve years of age are not marked: But we observed a few of the men whose legs were marked in chequers by the same method, and they appeared to be persons of superior rank and authority. One of the principal attendants upon the queen appeared much more disposed to imitate our manners than the rest; and our people, with whom he soon became a favourite, distinguished him by the name of Jonathan. This man, Mr Furneaux clothed completely in an English dress, and it sat very easy upon him. Our officers were always carried on shore, it being shoal water where we landed, and Jonathan, assuming new state with his new finery, made some of his people carry him on shore in the same manner. He very soon attempted to use a knife and fork at his meals, but at first, when he had stuck a morsel upon his fork, and tried to feed himself with that instrument, he could not guide it, but by the mere force of habit his hand came to his mouth, and the victuals at the end of the fork went away to his ear.

Their food consists of pork, poultry, dog's flesh, and fish, bread-fruit, bananas, plantains, yams, apples, and a sour fruit, which, though not pleasant by itself, gives an agreeable relish to roasted bread-fruit, with which it is frequently beaten up. They have abundance of rats, but, as far as I could discover, these make no part of their food. The river affords them good mullet, but they are neither large nor in plenty. They find conchs, mussels, and other shellfish on the reef, which they gather at low-water, and eat raw with bread-fruit before they come on shore. They have also very fine cray-fish, and they catch with lines, and hooks of mother-of-pearl, at a little distance from the shore, parrrot-fish, groopers, and many other sorts, of which they are so fond that we could seldom prevail upon them to sell us a few at any price. They have also nets of an enormous size, with very small meshes, and with these they catch abundance of small fish about the size of sardines; but while they were using both nets and lines with great success, We could not catch a single fish with either. We procured some of their hooks and lines, but for want of their art we were still disappointed.

The manner in which they dress their food is this: They kindle a fire by rubbing the end of one piece of dry wood, upon the side of another, in the same manner as our carpenters whet a chissel; then they dig a pit about half a foot deep, and two or three yards in circumference: They pave the bottom with large pebble stones, which they lay down very smooth and even, and then kindle a fire in it with dry wood, leaves, and the husks of the cocoa-nut. When the stones are sufficiently heated, they take out the embers, and rake up the ashes on every side; then they cover the stones with a layer of green cocoa-nut tree leaves, and wrap up the animal that is to be dressed in the leaves of the plantain; if it is a small hog they wrap it up whole; if a large one they split it. When it is placed in the pit, they cover it with the hot embers, and lay upon them bread-fruit and yams, which are also wrapped up in the leaves of the plantain: Over these they spread the remainder of the embers, mixing among them some of the hot stones, with more cocoa-nut tree leaves upon them, and then close all up with earth, so that the heat is kept in. After a time proportioned to the size of what is dressing, the oven is opened, and the meat taken out, which is tender, full of gravy, and, in my opinion, better in every respect than when it is dressed any other way. Excepting the fruit, they have no sauce but salt water, nor any knives but shells, with which they carve very dexterously, always cutting from them. It is impossible to describe the astonishment they expressed when they saw the gunner, who, while he kept the market, used to dine on shore, dress his pork and poultry by boiling them in a pot. Having, as I have before observed, no vessel that would bear the fire, they had no idea of hot water or its effects: But from the time that the old man was in possession of an iron pot, he and his friends eat boiled meat every day. The iron pots which I afterwards gave to the queen and several of the chiefs, were also in constant use, and brought as many people together, as a monster or a puppet-show in a country fair. They appeared to have no liquor for drinking but water, and to be happily ignorant of the art of fermenting the juice of any vegetable, so as to give it an intoxicating quality: They have, as has been already observed, the sugar-cane, but they seemed to make no other use of it than to chew, which they do not do habitually, but only break a piece off when they happen to pass by a place where it is growing.

Of their domestic life and amusements, we had not sufficient opportunity to obtain much knowledge; but they appear sometimes to have wars with each other, not only from their weapons, but the scars with which many of them were marked, and some of which appeared to be the remains of very considerable wounds, made with stones, bludgeons, or some other obtuse weapon: By these scars also they appear to be no inconsiderable proficients in surgery, of which indeed we happened to have more direct evidence. One of our seamen, when he was on shore, run a large splinter into his foot, and the surgeon being on board, one of his comrades endeavoured to take it out with a penknife; but after putting the poor fellow to a good deal of pain, was obliged to give it over. Our good old Indian, who happened to be present, then called over one of his countrymen that was standing on the opposite side of the river, who, having looked at the seaman's foot, went immediately down to the beach, and, taking up a shell, broke it to a point with his teeth; with this instrument, in little more than a minute, he laid open the place, and extracted the splinter; in the mean time the old man, who, as soon as he had called the other over, went a little way into the wood, returned with some gum, which he applied to the wound upon a piece of the cloth that was wrapped round him, and in two days time it was perfectly healed. We afterward learned that this gum was produced by the apple tree, and our surgeon procured some of it, and used it as a vulnerary balsam with great success.

The habitations of these happy people I have described already; and besides these, we saw several sheds inclosed within a wall, on the outside of which there were several uncouth figures of men, women, hogs, and dogs, carved on posts, that were driven into the ground. Several of the natives were from time to time seen to enter these places, with a slow pace and dejected countenance, from which we conjectured that they were repositories of the dead. The area within the walls of these places was generally well paved with large round stones, but it appeared not to be much trodden, for the grass every where grew up between them. I endeavoured with particular attention to discover whether they had a religious worship among them, but never could find the least traces of any.

The boats or canoes of these people are of three different sorts. Some are made out of a single tree, and carry from two to six men: These are used chiefly for fishing, and we constantly saw many of them busy upon the reef: Some were constructed of planks, very dexterously sewed together: These were of different sizes, and would carry from ten to forty men. Two of them were generally lashed together, and two masts set up between them; if they were single, they had an out-rigger on one side, and only one mast in the middle. With these vessels they sail far beyond the sight of land, probably to other islands, and bring home plantains, bananas, and yams, which seem also to be more plenty upon other parts of this island, than that off which the ship lay. A third sort seem to be intended principally for pleasure and show: They are very large, but have no sail, and in shape resemble the gondolas of Venice: The middle is covered with a large awning, and some of the people sit upon it, some under it. None of these vessels came near the ship, except on the first and second day after our arrival; but we saw, three or four times a week, a procession of eight or ten of them passing at a distance, with streamers flying, and a great number of small canoes attending them, while many hundreds of people run a-breast of them along the shore. They generally rowed to the outward point of a reef which lay about four miles to the westward of us, where they stayed about an hour, and then returned. These processions, however, are never made but in fine weather, and all the people on board are dressed; though in the other canoes they have only a piece of cloth wrapped round their middle. Those who rowed and steered were dressed in white; those who sat upon the awning and under it in white and red, and two men who were mounted on the prow of each vessel were dressed in red only. We sometimes went out to observe them in our boats, and though we were never nearer than a mile, we saw them with our glasses as distinctly us if we had been upon the spot.

The plank of which these vessels are constructed, is made by splitting a tree, with the grain, into as many thin pieces us they can. They first fell the tree with a kind of hatchet, or adze, made of a tough greenish kind of stone, very dexterously fitted into a handle; it is then cut into such lengths as are required for the plank, one end of which is heated till it begins to crack, and then with wedges of hard wood they split it down: Some of these planks are two feet broad, and from fifteen to twenty feet long. The sides are smoothed with adzes of the same materials and construction, but of a smaller size. Six or eight men are sometimes at work upon the same plank together, and, as their tools presently lose their edge, every man has by him a cocoa-nut shell filled with water, and a flat stone, with which he sharpens his adze almost every minute. These planks are generally brought to the thickness of about an inch, and are afterwards fitted to the boat with the same exactness that would be expected from an expert joiner. To fasten these planks together, holes are bored with a piece of bone that is fixed into a slick for that purpose, a use to which our nails were afterwards applied with great advantage, and through these holes a kind of plaited cordage is passed, so as to hold the planks strongly together: The seams are caulked with dried rushes, and the whole outside of the vessel is paid with a gummy juice, which some of their trees produce in great plenty, and which is a very good succedaneum for pitch.

The wood which they use for their large canoes, is that of the apple-tree, which grows very tall and straight. Several of them that were measured, were near eight feet in the girth, and from twenty to forty to the branches, with very little diminution in the size. Our carpenter said, that in other respects it was not a good wood for the purpose, being very light. The small canoes are nothing more than the hollow trunk of the bread-fruit tree, which is still more light and spongy. The trunk of the bread-fruit tree is six feet in girth, and about twenty feet to the branches.

Their principal weapons are stones, thrown either with the hand or sling, and bludgeons; for though they have bows and arrows, the arrows are only fit to knock down a bird, none of them being pointed, but headed only with a round stone.

I did not see one turtle all the while I lay off this island; but, upon shewing some small ones which I brought from Queen Charlotte's Island, to the inhabitants, they made signs that they had them of a much larger size. I very much regretted my having lost our he-goat, which died soon after we left St Iago, and that neither of our she-goats, of which we had two, were with kid. If the he-goat had lived, I would have put them all on shore at this place, and I would have left a she-goat here if either of them had been with kid; and I doubt not, but that in a few years they would have stocked the island.

The climate here appears to be very good, and the island to be one of the most healthy as well as delightful spots in the world. We saw no appearance of disease among the inhabitants. The hills are covered with wood, and the vallies with herbage; and the air in general is so pure, that, notwithstanding the heat, our flesh meat kept very well two days, and our fish one. We met with no frog, toad, scorpion, centipied, or serpent of any kind: And the only troublesome insects that we saw were ants, of which there were but few.

The south-east part of the island seems to be better cultivated and inhabited than where we lay, for we saw every day boats come round from thence laden with plantains and other fruit, and we always found greater plenty, and a lower price, soon after their arrival, than before.

The tide rises and falls very little, and, being governed by the winds, is very uncertain; though they generally blow from the E. to the S.E., and for the most part a pleasant breeze.

The benefit that we received while we lay off this island, with respect to the health of the ship's company, was beyond our most sanguine expectations, for we had not now an invalid on board, except the two lieutenants and myself, and we were recovering, though still in a very feeble condition.

It is certain that none of our people contracted the venereal disease here, and therefore, as they had free commerce with great numbers of the women, there is the greatest probability that it was not then known in the country. It was, however, found here by Captain Cook, in the Endeavour, and as no European vessel is known to have visited this island before Captain Cook's arrival, but the Dolphin, and the Boudeuse and Etoil, commanded by M. Bougainville, the reproach of having contaminated, with that dreadful pest, a race of happy people, to whom its miseries had till then been unknown, most be due either to him or to me, to England or to France; and I think myself happy to be able to exculpate myself and my country beyond the possibility of doubt.

It is well known that the surgeon on board his majesty's ships keeps a list of the persons who are sick on board, specifying their diseases, and the times when they came under his care, and when they were discharged. It happened that I was once at the pay-table on board a ship, when several sailors objected to the payment of the surgeon, alleging, that although he had discharged them from the list, and reported them to be cured, yet their cure was incomplete. From this time, it has been my constant practice when the surgeon reported a man to be cured, who had been upon the sick-list, to call the man before me, and ask him whether the report was true: If he alleged that any symptoms of his complaint remained, I continued him upon the list; if not, I required him, as a confirmation of the surgeon's report, to sign the book, which was always done in my presence. A copy of the sick-list on board the Dolphin, during this voyage, signed by every man in my presence, when he was discharged well, in confirmation of the surgeon's report, written in my own hand, and confirmed by my affidavit, I have deposited in the Admiralty; by which it appears, that the last man on board the ship, in her voyage outward, who was upon the sick-list for the venereal disease, except one who was sent to England in the store-ship, was discharged cured, and signed the book on the 27th of December, 1766, near six months before our arrival at Otaheite, which was on the 19th of June, 1767; and that the first man who was upon the list for that disease, in our return home, was entered on the 26th of February, 1768, six months after we left the island, which was on the 26th of July, 1767; so that the ship's company was entirely free fourteen months within one day, the very middle of which time we spent at Otaheite; and the man who was first entered as a venereal patient, on our return home, was known to have contracted the disease at the Cape of Good Hope, where we then lay.

SECTION IX.

Passage from Otaheite to Tinian, with some Account of several other Islands that were discovered in the South Seas. Having made sail from King George the Third's Island, we proceeded along the shore of the Duke of York's Island, at the distance of about two miles. There appeared to be good bays in every part of it, and in the middle a fine harbour; but I did not think it worth while to go on shore. The middle and west end is very mountainous, the east end is lower, and the coast, just within the beach, is covered with cocoa-nut, bread-fruit, apple, and plantain trees.

At daylight, the next morning, we saw land, for which we made sail, and ran along the lee-side of it. On the weather-side there were very great breakers, and the lee-side was rocky, but in many places there appeared to be good anchorage. We saw but few inhabitants, and they appeared to live in a manner very different from those of King George's Island, their habitations being only small huts. We saw many cocoa-nut and other trees upon the shore; but all of than had their heads blown away, probably in a hurricane. This island is about six miles long, and has a mountain of considerable height in the middle, which seems to be fertile. It lies in latitude 17° 28' S., and longitude, by our last observation, 151° 4' W. and I called it Sir Charles Saunders's Island.

On the 29th, the variation of the compass, by azimuth, was 7° 52' E.; and early the next morning, at day-break, we saw land bearing from N. by E. to N.W. We stood for it, but could find no anchorage, the whole island being surrounded by breakers. We saw smoke in two places, but no inhabitants. A few cocoa-nut trees were growing on the lee-part of it, and I called it Lord Howe's Island. It is about ten miles long, and four broad, and lies in latitude 16° 46' S., longitude, by observation, 154° 13' W.

In the afternoon, we saw land bearing W. by N. and stood for it. At five o'clock, we saw breakers running a great way out to the southward, and soon after, low land to the S.W. and breakers all about it in every direction.

We turned to windward all night, and as soon as it was light, crowded sail to get round these shoals. At nine we got round them, and named them Scilly Islands. They are a group of islands or shoals extremely dangerous; for in the night, however clear the weather, and by day, if it is hazy, a ship may run upon them without seeing land. They lie in latitude 16° 28' S. longitude 155° 30' W.

We continued to steer our course westward, till daybreak on the 13th of August, when we saw land bearing W. by S. and hauled towards it. At eleven o'clock in the forenoon, we saw more land in the W.S.W. At noon, the first land that we saw, which proved to be an island, bore W. 1/2 S. distant about five leagues, and had the appearance of a sugar-loaf; the middle of the other land, which was also an island, and appeared in a peak, bore W.S.W. distant six leagues. To the first, which is nearly circular, and three miles over, I gave the name of Boscawen's Island; and the other, which is three miles and a half long, and two broad, I called Keppel's Isle. Port Royal at this time bore E. 4° 10' S. distant 478 leagues.

At two o'clock, being about two miles distant from Boscawen's Island, we saw several of the inhabitants; but Keppel's Isle being to windward, and appearing more likely to afford us anchorage, we hauled up for it. At six, it was not more than a mile and a half distant, and, with our glasses, we saw many of the inhabitants upon the beach; but there being breakers at a considerable distance from the shore, we stood off and on all night.

At four o'clock the next morning, we sent off the boats to sound, and visit the island; and as soon as it was light, we ran down and lay over-against the middle of it. At noon, the boats returned, and reported that they had run within a cable's length of the island, but could find no ground: That seeing a reef of rocks lie off it, they had hauled round it, and got into a large, deep bay which was full of rocks: That they then sounded without the bay, and found anchorage from fourteen to twenty fathom, with a bottom of sand and coral: That afterwards they went again into the bay, and found a rivulet of good water, but the shore being rocky, went in search of a better landing-place, which they found about half a mile farther, and went ashore. They reported also, that from the water to this landing-place, a good rolling-way might be made for supplying the ship, but that a strong guard would be necessary, to prevent molestation from the inhabitants. They saw no hogs, but brought off two fowls and some cocoa-nuts, plantains, and bananas. While the boats were on shore, two canoes came up to them with six men: They seemed to be peaceably inclined, and were much the same kind of people as the inhabitants of King George's Island, but they were clothed in a kind of matting, and the first joint of their little fingers had been taken off; at the same time about fifty more came down from the country, to within about an hundred yards of them, but would advance no farther. When our people had made what observations they could, they put off, and three of the natives from the canoes came into one of the boats, but when she got about half a mile from the shore, they all suddenly jumped overboard, and swam back again.

Having received this account, I considered that the watering here would be tedious, and attended with great fatigue: That it was now the depth of winter in the southern hemisphere, that the ship was leaky, that the rudder shook the stern very much, and that what other damage she might have received in her bottom could not be known. That for these reasons, she was very unfit for the bad weather which she would certainly meet with either in going round Cape Horn, or through the streight of Magellan: That if she should get safely through the streight, or round the cape, it would be absolutely necessary for her to refresh in some port, but in that case no port would be in her reach; I therefore determined to make the best of my way to Tinian, Batavia, and so to Europe by the Cape of Good Hope. By this route, as far as we could judge, we should sooner be at home; and if the ship should prove not to be in a condition to make the whole voyage, we should still save our lives, as from this place to Batavia we should probably have a calm sea, and be not far from a port.

In consequence of this resolution, at noon I bore away, and passed Boscawen's Island without visiting it. It is a high round island, abounding in wood, and full of people; but Keppel's Isle is by far the largest and the best of the two.

Boscawen's Island lies in latitude 15° 50' S. longitude 175° W. and Keppel's Isle in latitude 15° 55' S. longitude 175° 3' W.

We continued a W.N.W. course till ten o'clock in the morning of Sunday the 16th, when we saw land bearing N. by E. and hauled up for it. At noon, we were within three leagues of it: The land within shore appeared to be high, but at the water-side it was low, and had a pleasant appearance; the whole seemed to be surrounded by reefs, that ran two or three miles into the sea. As we sailed along the shore, which was covered with cocoa-nut trees, we saw a few huts, and smoke in several parts up the country. Soon after we hauled without a reef of rocks, to get round the lee-side of the island, and at the same time sent out the boats to sound, and examine the coast.

The boats rowed close along the shore, and found it rocky, with trees growing close down to the water-side. These trees were of different sorts, many of them very large; but had no fruit: On the lee-side, however, there were a few cocoa-nuts, but not a single habitation was to be seen. They discovered several small rills of water, which, by clearing, might have been made to run in a larger stream. Soon after they had got close to the shore, several canoes came up to them, each having six or eight men on board. They appeared to be a robust, active people, and were quite naked, except a kind of mat that was wrapped round their middle. They were armed with large maces or clubs, such as Hercules is represented with, two of which they sold to the master for a nail or two, and some trinkets. As our people had seen no animal, either bird or beast, except sea-fowl, they were very desirous to learn of the natives whether they had either, but could not make themselves understood. It appears, that during this conference, a design was formed to seize our cutter, for one of the Indians suddenly laid hold of her painter, and hauled her upon the rocks. Our people endeavoured, in vain, to make them desist, till they fired a musket cross the nose of the man that was most active in the mischief. No hurt was done; but the fire and report so affrighted them, that they made off with great precipitation. Both our boats then put off, but the water had fallen so suddenly that they found it very difficult to get back to the ship; for when they came into deep water they found the points of rocks standing up, and the whole reef, except in one part, was now dry, and a great sea broke over it. The Indians probably perceived their distress, for they turned back, and followed them in their canoes all along the reef till they got to the breach, and then seeing them clear, and making way fast towards the ship, they returned.

About six in the evening, it being then dark, the boats returned, and the master told me, that all within the reef was rocky, but that in two or three places, at about two cables' length without it, there was anchorage in eighteen, fourteen, and twelve fathom, upon sand and coral. The breach in the reef he found to be about sixty fathom broad, and here, if pressed by necessity, he said a ship might anchor or moor in eight fathom; but that it would not be safe to moor with a greater length than half a cable.

When I had hoisted the boats in, I ran down four miles to leeward, where we lay till the morning; and then, finding that the current had set us out of sight of the island, I made sail. The officers did me the honour to call this island after my name. Wallis's Island lies in latitude 13° 18' S. longitude 177° W.

As the latitudes and longitudes of all these islands are accurately laid down, and plans of them delivered in to the Admiralty, it will be easy for any ship, that shall hereafter navigate these seas, to find any of them, either to refresh or to make farther discoveries of their produce.

I thought it very remarkable, that although we found no kind of metal in any of these islands, yet, the inhabitants of all of them, the moment they got a piece of iron in their possession, began to sharpen it, but made no such attempt on brass or copper.

We continued to steer N. westerly, and many birds were from time to time seen about the ship, till the 28th, when her longitude being, by observation, 187°24'W. we crossed the Line into north latitude. Among the birds that came about the ship, one which we caught exactly resembled a dove in size, shape, and colour. It had red legs, and was web-footed. We also saw several plantain leaves and cocoa-nuts pass by the ship.

On Saturday the 29th, about two o'clock in the afternoon, being in latitude 2°50'N. longitude 188°W. we crossed a great rippling, which stretched from the N.E. to the S.W. as far as the eye could reach from the mast-head. We sounded, but had no bottom with a line of two hundred fathoms.

On Thursday the 3d of September, at five o'clock in the morning, we saw land bearing E.N.E. distant about five miles: In about half an hour we saw more land in the N. W. and at six, saw in the N.E. an Indian proa, such as is described in the account of Lord Anson's voyage. Perceiving that she stood towards us, we hoisted Spanish colours; but when she came within about two miles of us, she tacked, and stood from us to the N.N.W. and in a short time was out of sight.

At eight o'clock, the islands which I judged to be two of the Piscadores, bore from S.W. by W. to W. and to windward, from N. by E. to N.E. and had the appearance of small flat keys. They were distant about three leagues; but many others, much farther off, were in sight. The latitude of one of those islands is 11°N. longitude 192°30' W.; and the other 11°20'N., longitude 192°58'W.

On the 7th, we saw a curlieu and a pewit, and on the 9th we caught a land-bird, very much resembling a starling.

On the 17th, we saw two gannets, and judged the island of Tinian to bear west, at about one-and-thirty leagues distance; our latitude being 15°N., and our longitude 212° 30'W. At six o'clock the next morning, we saw the island of Saypan, bearing W. by N. distant about ten leagues. In the afternoon, we saw Tinian, and made sail for the road; where, at nine o'clock in the morning, of Saturday the 19th, we came to an anchor in two-and-twenty fathom, sandy ground, at about a mile distant from the shore, and half a mile from the reef.

SECTION X.

Some Account of the present State of the Island of Tinian, and our Employment there; with what happened in the Run from thence to Batavia. As soon as the ship was secured, I sent the boats on shore to erect tents, and bring off some refreshments; and about noon they returned, with some cocoa-nuts, limes, and oranges.

In the evening, the tents being erected, I sent the surgeon and all the invalids on shore, with two months provisions, of every kind, for forty men, the smith's forge, and a chest of carpenter's tools. I then landed myself, with the first lieutenant, both of us being in a very sickly condition, taking with us also a mate, and twelve men, to go up the country and hunt for cattle.

When we first came to an anchor, the north part of the bay bore N. 39° W. Cocoa point N. 7° W. the landing-place N.E. by N. and the south end of the island S. 28° E.; but next morning, the master having sounded all the bay, and being of opinion that there was a better situation to the southward, we warped the ship a little way up, and moored with a cable each way.

At six in the evening, the hunters brought in a fine young bull, of near four hundred weight: Part of it we kept on shore, and sent the rest on board with bread-fruit, limes, and oranges.

Early the next morning, the carpenters were set at work to caulk the ship all over, and put every thing in repair as far as possible. All the sails were also got on shore, and the sail-makers employed to mend them: The armourers at the same time were busy in repairing the iron-work, and making new chains for the rudder. The number of the people now on shore, sick and well, was fifty-three.

In this place we got beef, pork, poultry, papaw apples, bread-fruit, limes, oranges, and every refreshment that is mentioned in the account of Lord Anson's voyage. The sick began to recover from the day they first went on shore: The air, however, was so different here from what we found it in King George's Island, that flesh meat, which there kept sweet two days, could here be scarcely kept sweet one. There had been many cocoa-nut trees near the landing-place, but they had been all wastefully cut down for the fruit, and none being grown up in their stead, we were forced to go three miles into the country before a single nut could be procured. The hunters also suffered incredible fatigue, for they were frequently obliged to go ten or twelve miles through one continued thicket, and the cattle were so wild that it was very difficult to come near them, so that I was obliged to relieve one party by another; and it being reported that cattle were more plenty at the north end of the island, but that the hunters being quite exhausted with fatigue when they got thither, were not able to kill them, much less to bring them down, I sent Mr Gore, with fourteen men, to establish themselves in that part of the island, and ordered that a boat should go every morning, at day-break, to bring in what they should kill. In the mean time the ship was laid by the stern to get at some of the copper sheathing which had been much torn; and in repairing the copper, the carpenter discovered and stopped a large leak under the lining of the knee of the head, by which we had reason to hope most of the water that the vessel had lately admitted in bad weather, came in. During our stay here, I ordered all the people on shore by turns, and by the 15th of October, all the sick being recovered, our wood and water completed, and the ship made fit for the sea, we got every thing off the shore, and embarked all our men from the watering-place, each having, at least, five hundred limes, and there being several tubs full on the quarter-deck, for every one to squeeze into his water as he should think fit.

At break of day, on Friday the 16th, we weighed, and, sailed out of the bay, sending the boats at the same time to the north end of the island, to bring off Mr Gore and his hunters. At noon, we received them and their tents on board, with a fine large bull, which they had just killed.

While we lay at anchor in this place, we had many observations for the latitude and longitude, from which we drew up the following table:

Latitude of the ship, as she lay at anchor 14° 55'N. long. 214°15'W. Latitude of the watering-place 14 59 N. Longitude of the body of Tinian 24 W. Longitude of the Tinian Road 214 8 W. Medium of Longitude, observed at Tinian 214 7

We continued a westerly course, inclining somewhat to the north, till the 21st, when Tinian bearing S.71°40'E. distant 277 leagues, we saw many birds; and the next day, saw three, resembling gannets, of the same kind that we had seen when we were within about thirty leagues of Tinian.

On the 23d, we had much thunder, lightning, and rain, with strong gales, and a great sea. The ship laboured very much, and the rudder being loose again, shook the stern as much as ever. The next day, we saw several small land birds, and the gales continuing, we split the gib and main-top-mast-stay-sail; the wind increased all the remainder of the day, and all night, and on Sunday it blew a storm. The fore-sail and mizen-sail were torn to pieces, and lost; and having bent others, we wore and stood under a reefed fore-sail, and balanced mizen. We had the mortification to find the ship admit more water than usual. We got the top-gallant masts down upon the deck, and took the gib-boom in; soon after which a sea struck the ship upon the bow, and washed away the round houses, with all the rails of the head, and every thing that was upon the fore-castle: We were, however, obliged to carry as much sail as the ship would bear, being, by Lord Anson's account, very near the Bashee Islands, and, by Mr Byron's, not more than thirty leagues, with a lee-shore.

The next morning, we saw several ducks and shags, some small land birds, and a great number of horse-flies about the ship; but had no ground with 160 fathom. The incessant and heavy rain had kept every man on board constantly wet to the skin for more than two days and two nights; the weather was still very dark, and the sea was continually breaking over the ship.

On the 27th, the darkness, rain, and tempest continuing, a mountainous sea that broke over us, staved all the half-ports to pieces on the starboard side, broke all the iron stanchions on the gunwale, washed the boat off the skids, and carried many things overboard. We had, however, this day, a gleam of sunshine, sufficient to determine our latitude, which we found to be 20°50'N., and the ship appeared to be fifty minutes north of her reckoning.

The weather now became more moderate. At noon, on the 28th, we altered our course, steering S. by W.; and at half an hour after one, we saw the Bashee Islands bearing from S. by E. to S.S.E. distant about six leagues. These islands are all high, but the northermost is higher than the rest. By an observation made this day, we found Grafton Island to lie in the longitude of 239° W. and in latitude of 21° 4' N. At midnight, the weather being very dark, with sudden gusts of wind, we missed Edmund Morgan, a marine tailor, whom we supposed to have fallen overboard, having reason to fear that he had drunk more than his allowance.

From this time, to the 3d of November, we found the ship every day from ten to fifteen miles north of her reckoning. The day before we had seen several gannets; but upon sounding many times during the day and the next night, we had no ground with 160 fathom. This morning, at seven o'clock, we saw a ledge of breakers bearing S.W. at the distance of about three miles: We hauled off from them, and at eleven saw more breakers bearing S.W. by S. distant about five miles. At noon, we hauled off the east end of them, from which we were not distant more than a quarter of a mile.

The first shoal lies in latitude 11° 8' N.; longitude, from Bashee Islands, 8° W.

The second shoal lies in latitude 10° 46' N.; longitude of the N.E. end, from Bashee Islands, 8° 13' W.

We saw much foul ground to the S. and S.S.E. but had no bottom with 150 fathom. Before one, however, we saw shoal water on the larboard bow, and standing from it, passed another ledge at two. At three, we saw a low sandy point, which I called Sandy Isle, bearing N. 1/2 E. distant about two miles. At five, we saw a small island, which I called Small Key, bearing N. by E. distant about five miles; and soon after, another larger, which I called Long Island, beyond it. At six in the evening, the largest island being distant between two and three leagues, we brought-to, and stood off and on from mid-night till break of day, continually sounding, but having no ground.

At seven in the morning, of Wednesday the 4th, we saw another island, which I called New Island, bearing S.E. by E., and a large reef of rocks, bearing S. 1/2 W. distant six miles. At ten, we saw breakers from W.S.W. to W. by N. At noon, the north end of the great reef bore S.E. by E. distant two leagues, and another reef bore W.N.W. at about the same distance.

The latitudes and longitudes of these islands and shoals, appear by the following table:

Soon after, we saw another reef in latitude 10° 15', longitude 248°.

The next day we found the ship, which had for some time been to the northward of her reckoning, eight miles to the southward.

We continued our course, often sounding, but finding no bottom. On the 7th, we passed through several ripplings of a current, and saw great quantities of drift-wood, cocoa-nut leaves, things like cones of firs, and weed, which swam in a stream N.E. and S.W. We had now soundings at sixty-five fathom, with brown sand, small shells, and stones; and at noon, found the ship again to the northward of her reckoning ten miles, and had decreased our soundings to twenty-eight fathom, with the same ground. Our latitude was 8° 36' N.; longitude 253° W. At two o'clock, we saw the island of Condore, from the mast-head, bearing W. 1/2 N. At four, we had ground with twenty fathom; the island bearing from W. to N.W. by W. distant about thirteen leagues, and having the appearance of high hummocks. The latitude of this island is 8° 40' N.; longitude, by our reckoning, 254° 15'.

We now altered our course; and the next morning, I took from the petty officers and seamen, all the log and journal books relative to the voyage.

On the 10th, being in latitude 5° 20' N., longitude 255° W. we found a current setting four fathom an hour S. by W.; and during our course to the islands Timoun, Aros, and Pesang, which we saw about six in the afternoon of the 13th, we were every day from ten to twenty miles southward of our reckoning.

On the 16th, at ten in the morning, we crossed the Line again into south latitude, in longitude 255°; and soon after we saw two islands, one bearing S. by E. distant five leagues, and the other S. by W. distant seven leagues.

The next morning, the weather became very dark and tempestuous, with heavy rain; we therefore clewed all up, and lay by till we could see about us. The two islands proved to be Pulo Toté, and Pulo Weste; and having made sail till one o'clock, we saw the Seven Islands. We continued our course till two the next morning, the weather being very dark, with heavy squalls of wind, and much lightning and rain. While one of these blasts was blowing with all its violence, and the darkness was so thick that we could not see from one part of the ship to the other, we suddenly discovered, by a flash of lightning, a large vessel close aboard of us. The steersman instantly put the helm a-lee, and the ship answering her rudder, we just cleared each, other. This was the first ship we had seen since we parted with the Swallow; and it blew so hard, that not being able to understand any thing that was said, we could not learn to what nation she belonged.

At six, the weather having cleared up, we saw a sail at anchor in the E.S.E.; and at noon, we saw land in the W.N.W. which proved, to be Pulo Taya, Pulo Toté bearing S.35°E. Pulo Weste S.13°E. At six in the evening, we anchored in fifteen fathom, with sandy ground; and observed a current running E.N.E. at the rate of five fathom an hour.

At six in the morning, we weighed and made sail, and soon after saw two vessels a-head; but at six in the evening, finding that we lost much ground, we came again to an anchor in fifteen fathom, with a fine sandy bottom.

At six o'clock the next morning, the current being slack, we hove short on the small bower, which soon after parted at a third from the clench. We immediately took in the cable, and perceived that, although we had sounded with great care, before we anchored, and found the bottom clear, it had been cut through by the rocks. After some time, the current becoming strong, a fresh gale springing up, and the ship being a great way to the leeward, I made sail, in hopes to get up and recover the anchor; but I found at last that it was impossible, without anchoring again; and being afraid of the consequences of doing that in foul ground, I determined to stand on, especially as the weather was become squally.

We were, however, able to make very little way till the next day, when, about three in the afternoon, we saw Monopin Hill bearing S. 3/4 E. and advancing very little, saw the coast of Sumatra at half an hour after six the next morning. We continued to suffer great delay by currents and calms, but on Monday the 30th of November, we anchored in Batavia Road.

SECTION XI.

Transactions at Batavia, and an Account of the Passage from thence to the Cape of Good Hope. We found here fourteen sail of Dutch East-India ships, a great number of small vessels, and his majesty's ship the Falmouth, lying upon the mud in a rotten condition.

I sent an officer on shore, to acquaint the governor of our arrival, to obtain his permission to purchase refreshments, and to tell him that I would salute him, if he would engage to return an equal number of guns. The governor readily agreed; and at sun-rise, on Tuesday the 1st of December, I saluted him with thirteen guns, which he returned with fourteen from the fort. Soon after, the purser sent off some fresh beef, and plenty of vegetables, which I ordered to be served immediately; at the same time I called the ship's company together, and told them that I would not suffer any liquor to come on board, and would severely punish those who should attempt to bring any: And I took some pains to reconcile them to this regulation, by assuring them that in this country, intemperance would inevitably destroy them. As a further preservative, I suffered not a man to go on shore, except those who were upon duty; and took care that none even of these straggled into the town.

On the 2d, I sent the boatswain and the carpenter, with the carpenter of the Falmouth, to look at such of her stores as had been landed at Onrust, with orders, that if any were fit for our use they should be bought. At their return, they informed me that all the stores they had seen were rotten, and unfit for use, except one pair of tacks, which they brought with them: The masts, yards, and cables were all dropping to pieces, and even the iron work was so rusty that it was worth nothing. They also went on board the Falmouth to examine her hulk, and found her in so shattered a condition, that in their opinion she could not be kept together during the next monsoon. Many of her ports were washed into one, the stern-post was quite decayed, and there was no place in her where a man could be sheltered from the weather. The few people who belonged to her were in as bad a state as their vessel, being quite broken and worn down, and expecting to be drowned as soon as the monsoon should set in.

Among other necessaries, we were in want of an anchor, having lost two, and of three-inch rope for rounding the cables; but the officers whom I had sent to procure these articles, reported, that the price which had been demanded for them was so exorbitant, that they had not agreed to give it. On Saturday the 5th, therefore, I went on shore myself, for the first time, and visited the different storehouses and arsenals, but found it impossible to make a better bargain than my officers. I suspected that the dealers took advantage of our apparent necessity, and supposing that we could not sail without what we had offered to purchase, determined to extort from us more than four times its value. I was, however, resolved to make any shift rather than submit to what I thought a shameful imposition, and therefore told them that I should certainly sail on the next Tuesday; that if they would agree to my terms in the mean time, I would take the things I had treated for; if not, that I would sail without them.

Soon after I returned on board, I received a petition from the warrant-officers of the Falmouth, representing, that there was nothing for them to look after: That the gunner had been long dead, and his stores spoiled, particularly the powder, which, by order of the Dutch, had been thrown into the sea: That the boatswain, by vexation and distress, had lost his senses, and was then a deplorable object in a Dutch hospital: That all his stores had been long spoiled and rotten, the roof of the storehouse having fallen in during a wet monsoon, and left them exposed many months, all endeavours to procure another place to put them in being ineffectual: That the carpenter was in a dying condition, and the cook a wounded cripple. For these reasons they requested that I would take them home, or at least dismiss them from their charge. It was with the greatest regret and compassion that I told these unhappy people it was not in my power to relieve them, and that as they had received charge of stores, they must wait orders from home. They replied, that they had never received a single order from England since they had been left here, and earnestly entreated that I would make their distress known, that it might be relieved. They had, they said, ten years' pay due, in the expectation of which they were grown old, and which now they would be content to forfeit, and go home sweepers, rather than continue to suffer the miseries of their present situation, which were indeed very great. They were not suffered to spend a single night on shore, whatever was their condition, and when they were sick, no one visited them on board; they were, besides, robbed by the Malays, and in perpetual dread of being destroyed by them, as they had a short time before burnt the Siam prize. I assured them that I would do my utmost to procure them relief, and they left me with tears in their eyes.

As I heard nothing more of the anchor and rope for which I had been in treaty, I made all ready for sea. The ship's company had continued healthy and sober, and been served with fresh beef every day, from the time of our first coming to an anchor in the Road; we had also some beef, and a live ox, to carry out with us. We had now only one man upon the sick list, except a seaman, who had been afflicted with rheumatic pains ever since our leaving the Streight of Magellan: And at six o'clock in the morning, of Tuesday the 8th of December, after a stay of just one week, we set sail.

On the 11th, at noon, we were off a small island called the Cap, between the coasts of Sumatra and Java, and several of our people fell down with colds and fluxes. The next day, a Dutch boat came on board, and sold us some turtle, which was served to the ship's company. At night, being at the distance of about two miles from the Java shore, we saw an incredible number of lights upon the beach, which we supposed were intended to draw the fish near it, as we had seen the same appearance at other places.

On Monday the 14th, we anchored off Prince's Island, and began to take in wood and water. The next morning, the natives came in with turtle, poultry, and hog-deer, which we bought at a reasonable price. We continued here, fitting the ship for the sea, till the 19th, during which time many of the people began to complain of intermitting disorders, something like an ague. At six o'clock the next morning, having completed our wood, and taken on board seventy-six tons of water, we made sail.