ed a third island in the direction of W.N.W., as far distant as land could be seen. We had now a fine breeze at E. by N., and I steered for the east end of the second island, which, at noon, extended from N. E. to W.N.W.

- W., the nearest part being about two leagues distant. At this time, we were in some doubt whether or no the land before us was inhabited; but this doubt was soon cleared up, by seeing some canoes coming off from the shore toward the ships. I immediately brought-to, to give them time to join us. They had from three to six men each; and, on their approach, we were agreeably surprised to find that they spoke the language of Otaheite, and of the other islands we had lately visited. It required but very little address to get them to come along-side; but no entreaties could prevail upon any of them to come on board. I tied some brass medals to a rope, and gave them to those in one of the canoes, who, in return, tied some small mackerel to the rope as an equivalent. This was repeated; and some small nails, or bits of iron, which they valued more than any other article, were given them. For these they exchanged more fish and a sweet potatoe, a sure sign that they had some notion of bartering, or, at least, of returning one present for another. They had nothing else in their canoes, except some large gourd shells, and a kind of fishing-net; but one of them offered for sale the piece of stuff that he wore round his waist, after the manner of the other islands. These people were of a brown colour; and, though of the common size, were stoutly made. There was little difference in the casts of their colour, but a considerable variation in their features, some of their visages not being very unlike those of Europeans. The hair of most of them was cropt pretty short, others had it flowing loose, and, with a few, it was tied in a bunch on the crown of the head. In all it seemed to be naturally black; but most of them had stained it, as is the practice of the Friendly Islanders, with some stuff which gave it a brown or burnt colour. In general they wore their beards. They had no ornaments about their persons, nor did we observe that their ears were perforated; but some were punctured on the hands, or near the groin, though in a small degree; and the bits of cloth which they wore, were curiously stained with red, black, and white colours. They seemed very mild, and had no arms of any kind, if we except some small stones, which they they had evidently brought for their own defence, and these they threw overboard when they found that they were not wanted.

Seeing no signs of an anchoring-place at this eastern extreme of the island, I bore away to leeward, and ranged along the S.E. side, at the distance of half a league from the shore. As soon as we made sail the canoes left us; but others came off as we proceeded along the coast, bringing with them roasting-pigs, and some very fine potatoes, which they had exchanged, as the others had done, for whatever was offered to them. Several small pigs were purchased for a sixpenny nail, so that we again found ourselves in a land of plenty, and just at the time when the turtle, which we had so fortunately procured at Christmas Island, were nearly expended. We passed several villages, some seated near the sea, and others farther up the country. The inhabitants of all of them crowded to the shore, and collected themselves on the elevated places to view the ships. The land upon this side of the island rises in a gentle slope, from the sea to the foot of the mountains, which occupy the centre of the country, except at one place near the east end, where they rise directly from the sea, and seemed to be formed of nothing but stone, or rocks lying in horizontal strata. We saw no wood but what was up in the interior part of the island, except a few trees about the villages, near which, also, we could observe several plantations of plantains and sugar-canes, and spots that seemed cultivated for roots.

We continued to sound, without striking ground with a line of fifty fathoms, till we came abreast of a low point, which is about the middle of the east side of the island, or rather nearer the N.W. end. Here we met with twelve and fourteen fathoms over a rocky bottom. Being past this point, from which the coast trended more northerly, we had twenty, then sixteen, twelve, and, at last, five fathoms over a sandy bottom. The last soundings were about a mile from the shore. Night now put a stop to any farther researches, and we spent it standing off and on. The next morning we stood in for the land, and were met by seve ral canoes filled with people, some of whom took courage and ventured on board.

In the course of my several voyages I never before met

with the natives of any place so much astonished, as these

people people were upon entering a ship. Their eyes were continually flying from object to object; the wildness of their looks and gestures fully expressing their entire ignorance about every thing they saw, and strongly marking to us, that, till now, they had never been visited by Europeans, nor been acquainted with any of our commodities, except iron; which, however, it was plain, they had only heard of, or had known it in some small quantity, brought to them at some distant period. They seemed only to understand that it was a substance much better adapted to the purposes of cutting or of boring of holes, than any thing their own country produced. They asked for it by the name of hamaite, probably referring to some instrument, in the making of which iron could be usefully employed; for they applied that name to the blade of a knife, though we could be certain that they had no idea of that particular instrument, nor could they at all handle it properly. For the same reason they frequently called iron by the name of toe, which, in their language, signifies a hatchet, or rather a kind of adze. On asking them what iron was, they immediately answered, "We do not know; you know what it is, and we only understand it as toe, or hamaite." When we shewed them some beads, they asked first, "What they were;" and then "whether they should eat them." But on their being told that they were to be hung in their ears, they returned them as useless. They were equally indifferent as to a looking-glass, which was offered them, and returned it for the same reason; but sufficiently expressed their desire for hamaite and toe, which they wished might be very large. Plates of earthen-ware, china-cups, and other such things, were so new to them, that they asked if they were made of wood, but wished to have some, that they might carry them to be looked at on shore. They were, in some respects, naturally well-bred; or, at least, fearful of giving offence, asking whether they should sit down, whether they should spit upon the deck, and the like. Some of them repeated a long prayer before they came on board; and others afterward sung and made motions with their hands, such as we had been accustomed to see in the dances of the islands we had lately visited. There was another circumstance in which they also perfectly resembled those other islanders. At first, on their entering the ship, they endeavoured to steal every thing they came near, or rather

to

to take it openly, as what we either should not resent, or not hinder. We soon convinced them of their mistake; and if they, after some time, became less active in appropriating to themselves whatever they took a fancy to, it was because they found that we kept a watchful eye over them.

At nine o'clock, being pretty near the shore, I sent three armed boats, under the command of Lieutenant Williamson, to look for a landing-place, and for fresh water. I ordered him, that if he should find it necessary to land in search of the latter, not to suffer more than one man to go with him out of the boats. Just as they were putting off from the ship, one of the natives having stole the butcher's cleaver, leaped overboard, got into his canoe, and hastened to the shore, the boats pursuing him in vain.

The order not to permit the crews of the boats to go on shore was issued, that I might do every thing in my power to prevent the importation of a fatal disease into this island, which I knew some of our men now laboured under, and which, unfortunately, had been already communicated by us to other islands in these seas. With the same view I ordered all female visitors to be excluded from the ships. Many of them had come off in the canoes. Their size, colour, and features did not differ much from those of the men; and though their countenances were remarkably open and agreeable, there were few traces of delicacy to be seen, either in their faces, or other proportions. The only difference in their dress was their having a piece of cloth about the body, reaching from near the middle to half-way down the thighs, instead of the maro worn by the other sex. They would as readily have favoured us with their company on board as the men; but I wished to prevent all connection, which might, too probably, convey an irreparable injury to themselves, and, through their means, to the whole nation. Another necessary precaution was taken, by strictly enjoining, that no person known to be capable of propagating the infection, should be sent upon duty out of the ships.

Whether these regulations, dictated by humanity, had the desired effect or no, time only can discover. I had been equally attentive to the same object, when I first visited the Friendly Islands, yet I afterwards found, with real concern, that I had not succeeded. And I am much afraid that this will always be the case in such voyages as ours, whenever it is necessary to have a number of people on shore. The op portunities

portunities and inducements to an intercourse between the sexes are then too numerous to be guarded against; and, however confident we may be of the health of our men, we are often undeceived too late. It is even a matter of doubt with me, if it be always in the power of the most skilful of the faculty to pronounce, with any certainty, whether a person who has been under their care, in certain stages of this malady, is so effectually cured, as to leave no possibility of his being still capable of communicating the taint. I think I could mention some instances which justify my presuming to hazard this opinion. It is likewise well known, that amongst a number of men, there are, generally, to be found some so bashful as to endeavour to conceal their labouring under any symptoms of this disorder. And there are others again, so profligate, as not to care to whom they communicate it. Of this last we had an instance at Tongataboo, in the gunner of the Discovery, who had been stationed on shore to manage the trade for that ship. After he knew that he had contracted this disease, he continued to have connections with different women, who were supposed not to have already contracted it. His companions expostulated with him without effect, till Captain Clerke, hearing of this dangerous irregularity of conduct, ordered him on board.

While the boats were occupied in examining the coast, we stood on and off with the ships, waiting for their return. About noon, Mr Williamson came back, and reported that he had seen a large pond behind a beach near one of the villages, which the natives told him contained fresh water, and that there was anchoring-ground before it. He also reported that he had attempted to land in another place, but was prevented by the natives, who, coming down to the boats in great numbers, attempted to take away the oars, musquets, and, in short, every thing that they could lay hold of, and pressed so thick upon him, that he was obliged to fire, by which one man was killed. But this unhappy circumstance

One can scarcely help smiling at the mode Dr Kippis uses to express his abhorrence of this man's conduct. It may be seen in his account of this voyage, given in the Biog. Brit. "If I knew the rascal's name," says he, "I would hang it up, as far as lies in my power, to everlasting infamy!" Undoubtedly it richly deserved such treatment, but there was no necessity for the doctor exhibiting such keenness for the office of execu tioner.-E.