Title: Journal of a cruise of the United States Schooner Dolphin
Author: Paulding, Hiram
Language: English
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UNITED STATES SCHOONER DOLPHIN ***



[Transcriber's note: Some punctuation and spelling may appear unusual
to modern readers.]



[Illustration: Map of Mulgrave Islands]



JOURNAL

OF A

CRUISE

OF THE

UNITED STATES SCHOONER DOLPHIN,

AMONG THE ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN;

AND A VISIT TO THE MULGRAVE ISLANDS,

IN PURSUIT OF THE MUTINEERS OF THE

WHALE SHIP GLOBE.

WITH A MAP.



By Lieut. HIRAM PAULDING, of the U. S. Navy.



NEW-YORK:

G. & C. & H. CARVILL.

M,DCCC,XXXI.



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year one thousand
eight hundred and thirty-one, by G. & C. & H. CARGILL, in the Clerk's
Office of the Southern District of New-York.


  NEW-YORK:
  LUDWIG & TOLEFREE, PRINTERS,
  No. 73, Vesey-street.



PREFACE.

The principal inducement of the author, in preparing the following
Journal for publication, originated in an idea that a plain narrative
of a a cruise through an unfrequented part of the ocean, comprising a
particular description of a groupe of Islands, never before explored,
and forming, perhaps, the latest inhabited portion of the globe,
might not be without interest.  It is believed, that, in habits,
opinions, and modes of living, the people of the Mulgrave Islands,
approach more nearly to a state of nature than those of any other
known region.  The object of the CRUISE, of which a concise account
is now offered to the Public, necessarily led to a more full
examination of these Islands than has yet been made, or than it will
ever probably be thought worth while to make again, except for a
similar purpose.


The delay in publishing this little work originated partly in the
hesitation of the author in offering, and partly in that of the
booksellers, in accepting it; and the public must decide whether they
were not both right in the first instance.  It only remains for him
to state, that all he aimed at or desired, was to give a plain,
unpretending narrative, of what he saw, which, without presuming to
merit applause, might at least escape censure.

_New-York, May_, 1831.



JOURNAL

OF A

CRUISE OF THE U. S. SCHOONER DOLPHIN.

----------

In the year 1824, the crew of a whale ship, called the Globe,
belonging to the island of Nantucket, mutinied while in the Pacific
Ocean, murdered the officers in latitude about eight degrees south,
longitude one hundred and sixty degrees west, and carried the ship to
the Mulgrave Islands, where it was proposed by the chief mutineers to
burn her, and form a settlement.  Here they landed a great part of
the stores, sails, rigging, &c.; but some of the crew, who had no
part in the mutiny, taking advantage of the others' being on shore,
cut the cables, just at the dusk of evening, and, making sail, stood
out to sea with a fine breeze.

The mutineers pursued the ship, as soon as they discovered she was
underway, but, finding that she outsailed them, they soon gave up the
chase, and returned to the shore.  The nautical instruments of every
description had been taken on shore by order of the mutineers, so
that the people on board of the Globe were left to traverse a vast
ocean, studded with islands, and rocks, and reefs, where currents are
frequent, strong, and variable, without any other guide by which to
direct their course than the stars and prevailing winds.  The
Mulgrave Islands are situated in north latitude six degrees, east
longitude one hundred and seventy.  three degrees; and although the
passage of the Globe was very long, she arrived safely at Valparaiso,
where the crew informed the American Consul of the events that had
transpired.  It was unfortunately at a period when our commerce, on
the coast of the Pacific, required for its protection all the naval
force we had at the time on that station, and no measures were taken
to bring the offenders to answer for their crimes, until some months
after the Globe had returned to the United States.  Information of
the occurrence having been communicated to the secretary of the navy,
he, in 1825, directed Commodore Hull, then commanding our squadron in
the Pacific Ocean, to despatch the United States schooner Dolphin, in
search of such of the mutineers as had been left at the Mulgraves.
Besides the importance of bringing the guilty to punishment, for the
sake of example,--humanity for the suffering condition of the
innocent, that had been left by those who escaped, dictated that
something should be done for their relief.  Accordingly on the 18th
of August, 1825, the Dolphin sailed from Chorillos, on the coast of
Peru, under the command of Lieutenant Percival, who was directed,
preparatory to his departure from the coast, to stop at some
convenient place for such refreshments as might be necessary for the
cruise.  On the day following, we stood into the harbour of Casma,
and anchored, when we fired several guns, as signals, to acquaint the
people in the interior of the arrival of a stranger that wanted their
aid.  It was not long before we had the satisfaction of seeing a
number of people, who had made their appearance in obedience to the
signal.  A few moments' conversation with them, satisfied us that our
wants could not be supplied here.  Wood might have been obtained, but
the water was neither good, nor convenient to be got at, and all
other things that we were in want of, could only be procured at the
most extravagant prices.

After laying at anchor a few hours, we got underway, and stood along
the coast for a small place called Santa, which was situated a few
leagues to the north of us, Casma is but a poor harbour, as it lies
so much exposed to the prevailing southerly winds, that frequently a
high and dangerous surf breaks upon that part of the shore where
alone (at any time) it is practicable to land.  A valley, covered
with thickets of reeds and bushes, extends back from the sea for
several miles.  In it there is neither habitations nor inhabitants,
and a sandy waste of hill and dale separates it from the little
Indian village of Casma, which is several miles in the interior.  It
is situated in a valley, about a league in circumference, which is
watered by a small stream.  The soil is rich, but poorly cultivated.
The inhabitants (of whom there is about a thousand) are all Indians.
They live in wretched habitations, and their intercourse with the
Spaniards for centuries, it seems, has not much improved their
condition in any respect.  Their principal dependance is upon the
sale of their poultry to such ships as visit their harbour for the
trade of the interior country, and to people thus engaged, their
proximity may sometimes be a very great convenience.

The harbour of Santa is formed by several small islands, lying a
little to the south of it, and about a mile from the main.  We passed
between the islands and the main, although it was night, and very
dark.  On the following morning, we made the customary signal, by
firing a gun, which, in a very short time, brought the captain of the
port down to the beach.  He had not much the appearance of official
dignity, having a long black beard, and was in no respect
prepossessing.  Rude, however, as was his exterior, he was profuse in
offers of hospitality.  He assured us that we should be abundantly
supplied with every thing we wanted, and requested that an officer
might be sent with him to Santa, to negociate for our supplies.  The
purser and myself were ordered upon this service, and not having time
to send to Santa for horses, it being six miles from our anchorage,
we were reduced to the necessity of a most painful ride, behind the
captain of the port and a companion whom he had brought with him.
The road was over an uninterrupted plain, which was almost everywhere
covered with impenetrable thickets of reeds, and the Algaroba[1], and
in some places a foot or two deep with water that had escaped from
the streams of the cultivated valley.  When we arrived at the door of
the commandant's house, he shewed us in with an air of some
formality, and welcomed us with every Spanish expression of
hospitality.  The appearance of the house corresponded well with that
of its occupant.  It was disgusting in the extreme.  There were but
two rooms in it, one of which was occupied as a granary and bed-room,
and the other as a pulparia,[2] and the ordinary conveniences of the
family.  In the middle of the latter, hung a hog, weighing three or
four hundred pounds, which had been butchered that morning.  The
captain pretended he could himself supply whatever we asked for,
assuring us that he would sell more cheaply than any one else, and
evinced an extreme jealousy at our conversing with any other than
himself upon the subject of our visit to Santa.  As a matter of
courtesy, we soon made our way to the house of the governor, and paid
our respects to him.  He seemed to feel highly complimented with our
attention, and, like the captain of the port, proffered his
assistance to obtain for us whatever we stood in need of.  He bore
the name of the cruel conqueror of Peru, it being nothing less than
the great Pizarro; but it was evident, from his complexion and
curling locks, that his ancestors came from Africa.  Notwithstanding
this disadvantage, however, he could not be compared to the captain
of the port without disparagement, and, considering the wretched
society in which he lived, I thought he discharged his official
duties rather creditably.  Both the governor and captain of the port
invited us to dine with them; and each, fearing we would make our
purchase of the other, solicited our company very earnestly.  We
finally accepted the invitation of the latter, and he escorted us
back to his house, where the table was already smoking with savoury
dishes, served up in a variety of ways from the huge animal we had
seen there in the morning, under circumstances by no means calculated
to improve our appetites.  A rabble, formed of half naked Indians,
and long bearded white men, assembled in the room, while we were at
dinner, some of whom sat down at table unceremoniously, and partook
with us.  Our host indulged himself freely with the use of
aquadiente,[3] and, ere we finished our repast, his house exhibited a
constant scene of riot, from which we were exceedingly glad to
escape.  After making a few purchases we returned on board.  The next
day, a party, consisting of about thirty or forty, came down to make
us a visit.  All degrees of the society of Santa, without any
distinction,--whites, mulattoes, and Indians, having, it would seem,
mingled together for the occasion.  They remained with us all day,
eating and drinking, and appeared to be very happy; but begged for
every thing that came in their way.  At sunset, to our great
satisfaction, they left us, and on the following morning, we got
underway, and continued along the coast to the north.

The small town of Santa contains about two thousand inhabitants,
nearly all of whom are Indians.  It is situated in latitude nine
degrees south, in the valley of Santa, which is twenty or thirty
miles in circumference, beautiful and rich in soil, and watered by a
deep and rapid stream, which takes its rise in the Andes, at the
distance of a hundred miles from the sea coast.  Previous to the
revolution, it was a flourishing valley, with a numerous population,
producing rice, wheat, and other grain, in considerable quantities,
for exportation; and frequently large herds of cattle were driven
from it to Lima.  It abounds also in fruits, such as oranges, lemons,
grapes, and a variety of other delicious kinds.  Large farming
establishments are every where to be seen, each comprehending
thousands of acres, and previous to the revolution possessed by
gentlemen of ample fortune.  All of these are, now in ruins, and most
of them unoccupied.  The climate of Santa is mild, and almost
unvarying.  Here, as in nearly all the rest of Peru, bordering on the
Pacific Ocean, it never rains, and wherever the land is cultivated it
is watered from the rivers.

Around the cultivated valley of Santa, are spread extensive plains of
barren sand; and at a short distance back from the sea rises the
first range of gloomy and sterile mountains which, increasing in
altitude as you advance into the interior, terminates in the eternal
snow-covered Andes, at the distance of from fifty to a hundred miles.
At Santa we obtained wood with ease, and from two or three old wells,
near the shore, filled our casks with brackish water.  Where the
river empties into the harbour it is so much exposed to the sea as to
render watering difficult, and almost always dangerous.  Santa was a
place of some trade before the revolution, it being connected by
direct communication with some mines of the precious metals in the
interior.

On the 24th of August, we anchored in the roads of Huanchaco, and
communicated with several vessels that were lying there.  Huanchaco
is an Indian village, and the seaport of the city of Bolivia, the
ancient name of which was Truxillo.  It is exposed to the sea, and at
times the surf breaks so violently on the shore, as to prevent all
intercourse with the vessels at anchor.  The Indians are provided
with a float they call Balsa, and on which they pass through this
surf, in cases of great emergency, when no boat could live in it.  It
is composed merely of two bundles of long reeds, bound compactly
together, tapering a little at one end, and the two bundles secured
to each other, the small ends coming to a point, somewhat resembling
in appearance the bow of a boat.  In the middle it is hollowed
sufficiently for a man to seat himself securely.  It is usually about
fifteen feet long, and from two to three feet wide.  It is calculated
for one man only, who directs it with his paddle.  I one day
witnessed their wonderful skill in the management of the balsa.  The
surf was breaking so furiously, that the men, accustomed to work in
it, advised me not to go on board of my ship.  Whilst I was standing
on the shore, with several of them around me, a boat appeared just
without the heavy rollers that were setting in, filled with people,
who it was evident were strangers to the danger they were about to
encounter, as they were dashing on fearlessly into the surf.  The
Indians near me made motions, and called to them not to advance
further, but they neither saw nor heard the warning.  Observing this,
six or eight of them launched their balsas, and in a few minutes were
in the midst of the breakers.  They were just in time, for the boat
in a moment afterwards darted forward with great velocity, and
suddenly disappeared.  The wave had broken, and was foaming over her,
and another must have terminated the existence of every person on
board; but, before the next swell, that came rolling on in quick
succession had reached them, each man was upon a balsa, and the
skilful and intrepid Indians bore them safely to the shore.  We
remained but a few hours at Huanchaco, when we continued on to the
north, and on the 25th of August, came up with the Lobos Islands, in
latitude six degrees south, and distant about a hundred miles from
the coast.  They are barren rocks, rising in some places several
hundred feet, and no where have any appearance of vegetation.  With
the aid of our glasses, we saw at a distance a number of people upon
these inhospitable rocks, and supposing they might be some
unfortunate seamen, whose vessel had been cast away, we hove to, with
a view of affording them relief.  Upon examination, however, they
proved to be Indians from the coast, who had come here on a
catamaran, upon a fishing enterprise, it being the season when great
quantities of fish, resembling mackerel, are taken on the shores of
these Islands.

Previous to ascertaining who these fishermen were, we landed on a
small island nearer to us, where, on the side of a hill, forty or
fifty yards distant, we saw several hundreds of seals basking in the
sun.  The rock rose perhaps a hundred feet, and many of the seals
were near the top of it.  The noise of our landing gave them the
alarm, and, as we had cut them off from the water, they made the best
of their way for the other side of the hill, joining in a terrific
growl like so many furious mastiffs.  They had reached the top of the
hill, and were descending on the opposite side, when we overtook
them, and very wantonly killed several.  They were so large that many
of them would have weighed at least five or six hundred pounds, but
their motions were extremely clumsy.  Whenever we came near them they
would growl, and snapped at us like a ferocious dog, and their long
teeth warned us not to approach them within striking distance.
Considering their immense size, it is astonishing bow slight a blow
will kill them when given on the nose.  If, however, this fatal part
is missed, and they receive a severe blow upon any other part of the
head, they suffer but little injury, and become extremely tenacious
of life, particularly if it has time to swell.  The nose is then no
longer a mortal part, and it is almost impossible to subdue them.  We
witnessed several instances of this kind, being but poorly provided
with weapons proper for the purpose, and withal unskilled in the use
of them.  In descending from the top of the hill, there was but one
narrow defile by which they could escape, and there they floundered
for nearly half an hour, tumbling over each other three or four deep,
until at last they got into their native element.

The north side of the Lobos Islands affords a fine harbour, where we
saw a small vessel at anchor waiting for the proceeds of her cargo,
which had been landed on the coast at a place called Lambayaca.

On the 26th of August, we anchored at Peyta, in latitude five degrees
south.  This was the last place at which it would be convenient for
us to stop, and here, to our gratification, we were enabled to obtain
the necessary refreshments for our cruise.  We filled the deck with
pigs, poultry, and vegetables, and at considerable expense succeeded,
after much trouble, in obtaining a supply of good water.  Peyta is
situated in a deep bay, and is a good harbour, formed by two
projecting points of land, and is for many leagues surrounded by
barren sand.  It is the seaport of an interior city, called Pieura,
and receives from distant valleys all that is necessary for the
consumption of the inhabitants or strangers, who visit it for the
purposes of trade.  It is supplied with water from a river that
empties itself into the sea, near a small Indian town called Golan,
whence we found it necessary to resort for a supply.  When we had
proceeded there, and anchored our vessel within a mile or two of the
town, the only method by which we could obtain water, was to have it
brought in calabashes on mules.  It was their saint's day, and in the
village all was frolic and mirth.  Groups of men and women were
everywhere seen, dressed fantastically, singing and dancing along the
streets.  I called upon the governor, who was a white man, very early
in the morning, to report the arrival of our vessel, and the object
of our visit.  He had just risen from his hammock, and received me
with many expressions of civility, and proffers of assistance.  His
house was but little better than that of the captain of the port of
Santa, and his appearance not more prepossessing.  The room into
which I was ushered had no other floor than the ground beaten hard,
on which were several large piles of pumpkins, bags of beans, and
Indian corn, which he proposed to sell me before our official
interview had ended.  Immediately after breakfast he came on board to
visit the captain, bringing with him several emales.  They remained
on board nearly all day, to the annoyance of every body, and in the
evening were removed to the shore with great difficulty, so freely
had they partaken of our hospitality.  Soon after our arrival at
Peyta, we were invited to dine with the governor, who treated us with
great kindness and hospitality.  Some months previous to our arrival,
his son had shipped himself at Talcahuana, on board of the Dolphin,
as a common sailor, and was discharged on our arrival here, and
permitted to remain with his friends.  He was spoken of amongst us as
a person who had been compelled to fly from his home for improper
conduct of some kind, and now the whole mystery was explained.  His
father was one of the most respectable and patriotic men in the place
where he resided; but this son was a youth of a bad disposition, and
had given him a great deal of trouble.  When the revolution first
commenced in that section of the country, he provided himself with
the uniform of a patriot officer, and went about the country, where
he was a stranger, or but slightly known, and under the authority of
his pretended commission, took, by violence, the cattle and horses of
the farmers, or whatever else he could possess himself of, which he
converted into money for his own purposes.  Sometimes he even pressed
the Indians as soldiers, and compelled them to assist him in carrying
off his plunder.

At length, his exactions became so heavy, and were levied so
tyrannically, that a gentleman resisted him, and questioned the
legality of his authority.  Numbers were fired with indignation
against him, and the propriety of his conduct was no sooner
questioned, than the investigation was followed up with such
activity, that, finding there was no safety but in flight, he
preferred a voluntary exile to meeting the just resentment of the
people he had injured.  He had suffered many hardships during his
absence, and appeared on his return to be truly penitent.  I was at
his father's house when he entered.  His mother and sisters were
deeply affected, and received him with all the tenderness of female
sympathy, their eyes overflowing with tears.  They each embraced him,
as one most dear to them; but when he approached his father (a man
about sixty) who was standing on the opposite side of the room, he
caught the old man's eye bent indignantly upon him, and turned away
with a look humbled to the dust.

Whilst lying here we had an opportunity of witnessing a solitary
instance of an enterprising disposition in a Peruvian Indian,--a
characteristic, it is believed, they but rarely possess, or, at most,
but in a slight degree.  We had on board an Indian youth, who
belonged to this part of Peru, and for several days had held frequent
conversations with his countrymen, who were attracted on board by
curiosity.  One of these people had concerted with the youth a plan
for his deserting.  In compliance with this arrangement, he put off,
during the mid-watch, with his canoe, and taking his station just
ahead of the Dolphin, gave a shrill whistle as the signal of his
approach.  The lad, fearing that he might be detected, did not
venture to answer the signal, which was repeated several times, when
the officer of the watch suspecting the object, gave the long
expected response, and the credulous Indian came cautiously paddling
close under the bow of the vessel, where, to his amazement, he was
made prisoner, and compelled to go on board.  When the captain came
on deck the next morning, he punished the poor Indian, by impressing
upon him the belief that he intended to detain, and make a soldier of
him.  Not having sagacity enough to know the difference between our
vessel and a patriot man-of-war, and conceiving that there was no
chance for his escape, he made the most pathetic appeals to the
captain's humanity, and appeared to suffer all the agony of despair.
The captain ordered a cartridge-box to be put over his shoulders, and
a musket placed in his hands.

He seemed frantic with the reality of his servitude, using his utmost
violence to disengage himself from the cartridge-box and musket,
declaring again and again that he was no soldier, and in the most
affecting manner begging the captain for God's sake to permit him to
go on shore.  When his tormentors discontinued their persecutions, he
jumped over the stern into his canoe, with great activity, and soon
joined his anxious friends on the beach, who had assembled there,
apprehensive of his captivity, and awaiting the result.

On the 2d of September, we sailed from Peyta, and shaped our course
for the Gallapagos Islands.  The trade wind was moderate, accompanied
with fine weather.  On the morning of the 6th, we made Hood's Island,
and in a few hours afterwards, anchored on the west side, in a small
harbour, called Gardner's Bay, the only one it affords.  After
dinner, the captain took with him twenty or thirty of the crew, and
went in pursuit of turtle.  The island is high and mountainous,
covered everywhere with volcanic cinders, many of which are in huge
masses.  The men were at first very eager in their search for turtle,
and the whole crew, if they had been permitted, would gladly have
engaged in it.

They expected to have found the turtle near the shore; instead of
which they had to scramble over rocks and climb mountains, half the
time making their way through brambles, at the expense of scratches
and torn clothes.  Men were never more disappointed than our crew in
the amusement of catching turtle.  Sometimes they would wander about
for hours before they found one, and then it would probably be a mile
or two from the beach, and as much as a man could well lift.  By
sundown we had collected about thirty, of large size.  Black grouper
were very abundant close to our anchorage, but the sharks were so
numerous that for every fish taken we lost one or two hooks.  We got
a plentiful supply for the crew, however, in the course of an hour.
On the following morning, we joined Captain Meek, of the brig
Tamahamah, which vessel had accompanied us hither, and making a large
party--went round the island about ten or twelve miles from our
anchorage, where we expected to find turtle more abundant.  The
captain was an old cruiser here, and well calculated to make one of
an agreeable party.  He stood cook for us, and as the day was very
warm, our first essay on landing, was to make a large bower, under
which to prepare our dinner.  The people then dispersed, to look for
turtle, the first of which were served up for our dinner, in a style
that might have been relished by less keen appetites than ours, which
were sharpened by laborious exercise.  At night, we had collected
upwards of a hundred, besides ten large green turtle, we were so
fortunate as to find on the beach near the place of our landing.
When we came to assemble our men to return on board, two of them were
missing, and upon inquiry were ascertained to have been absent nearly
all day.  We dispersed and looked for them in every direction until
dark, when every body being much fatigued, a party was left to search
for them again in the morning, and the rest repaired on board.  In
the morning, we renewed our labours without success, and with great
reason began to feel seriously alarmed for the safety of our
shipmates.  There was no water on the island, and the preceding day
had been so extremely warm, that we feared the poor fellows would
soon perish, if they had not already.  Our search, too, was attended
with considerable danger.  Wandering about in distant parts of the
island, we sometimes, in clambering over rocks and mountains, changed
our course without being sensible of it, and would find ourselves
pursuing our way in a different direction from what we supposed.  In
the afternoon, when our strength and patience were quite exhausted,
and our parties returning for the night, the lost men suddenly
appeared on the beach, close to the vessel.  They were pale and
emaciated, with scarcely strength to move one foot before the other.
Their clothes were in tatters, and their shoes worn off their feet,
which were very much crippled with their long journey over the sharp
cinders.  It appeared from the story of these men, that they had
several times been on the side of the island where we were anchored,
but upon an eminence that overlooked the vessel, and thinking
themselves on the other side, recrossed; when, to their astonishment,
seeing nothing of her, they would retrace their steps; and in this
manner, were wandering about for many hours, almost despairing at
last of finding relief.  While they were in this wretched situation,
they several times quenched their thirst by killing turtle that came
in their way, and drinking from the reservoir with which nature has
supplied this singular animal.  I have since been told by a seaman,
that he deserted from a whale ship at these islands, accompanied by a
number of others, and that for weeks, they had no other water than
what they obtained by breaking open the turtles and drinking of the
water they found in them.  It is contained in a pouch that resembles
a bladder, and is immediately connected with the stomach.  It is
large in proportion to the size of the animal, and some of them will
hold two or three gallons.  It surprised us to see the tameness of
the birds.  They would scarcely fly from us when we approached them
within a few feet, and in many instances we could pick them up with
our hands.  The gannet, generally of a clear white, and as large as a
goose, we could catch with great ease; and the albatrosses, some grey
and some yellow, which were much larger than any bird we have in the
United States, would but rarely rise upon the wing to escape us.
They ran very fast, and would sometimes give us a chase of one or two
hundred yards.  A bird, the plumage and form of which differed in no
respect from our mocking-bird, would feed within a few feet of us,
and the turtle-doves were killed in great numbers by our people, with
short poles.  Hood's Island is evidently of volcanic origin.  It is,
indeed, nothing but a mass of cinders.  It is covered with a slight
growth of scrubby bushes of various kinds, and occasionally a tree of
four or five inches in diameter, is met with.  Of all its vegetation,
the cactus seems best adapted to it.  There is a variety of the
species; one of which attains to a larger size than any other
production of the island, and spreads out into a tree of considerable
height.  This kind of the cactus is chosen by the turtle for food.
When the whalers, or other visiters, go to the Gallapagos Islands for
these animals, they cut down a number of the trees in the evening,
and on the following morning they are sure to find turtle feeding
there, although none could be seen in its vicinity on the preceding
day.  The guanas are not the least remarkable of the inhabitants of
the Gallapagos.  They are from two to three feet long and shaped like
a lizard.  Their colour varies from grey to jet black.  They are
easily caught and quite harmless; are often eaten and said to be
excellent.  On the top of the head they have a beautiful shining
crest of black and yellow, which, in the sun, has a most brilliant
appearance.

Except where we anchored, a heavy surf breaks all round Hood's
Island.  In a high and central part of it, is a place which resembles
the dry bed of a small lake.  It is surrounded by ridges and peaks of
cinders rising in some places from one to three hundred feet, and in
all probability has been the crater of a volcano.  In places
difficult of access we saw a few seals, but so shy that with the
exception of one or two instances, we could not approach them.  The
few that we killed were hair seal, and consequently of but little
value.  Between Hood's Island and the small one that forms the
harbour, there is a passage for ships, but it is very narrow, and
with a strong current that runs through it, which would always render
it dangerous for a ship to attempt to pass, particularly so if the
wind were not perfectly fair.

At one, P.M., on the 10th of September, we got underway, and stood
over for Charles Island, where we anchored at six, in Essex Bay.
Rock Dismal, so called by Commodore Porter, is an excellent land
mark, and seems to have been appropriately named.  It rises to the
eastward of Essex Bay, in sharp crags of fifty to a hundred feet
high.  A few solitary bushes constitute all its vegetation.  In
approaching Essex Bay, and at its entrance, we were alarmed several
times by a strong ripple, but in casting the lead found no bottom
with ten fathoms of line.  At Essex Bay, is the celebrated
post-office of the whalers, to which Commodore Porter resorted
several times during his cruise for information.  We found a letter
there left by a whaler who had visited Charles Island for a supply of
turtle.  He was last from the river Tumbez, where one of his crew had
caught a fever, of which he died.  Two others lost their way in the
mountains of Charles Island, where, after wandering about for a
considerable time, one of them complained to his companion of a
head-ache, and soon after sat down and died.  The other found his way
to the ship after a great deal of suffering.

Charles Island is high and mountainous, and like Hood's, is covered
with a thin growth of bushes.  At the distance of a mile from the
beach there is a small spring of water, to which there is a footpath
over the crags and hills, worn by visiters in search of turtle, a
scanty supply of which can only be obtained with great labour.  The
residence of Pat, the Irishman, in this lone and dreary place, for a
number of years, has made it an object of curiosity to all who visit
the island.  Here he planted his potatoes and pumpkins, and raised
his chickens; administering the government of his island with
despotic sway, for Pat was a monarch although he pillowed his head
upon a rock, and reposed his rude limbs on a bed made of bushes.  The
story is known to all who have read Commodore Porter's journal, in
which he gives an account of Pat's residence on this island, and of
his possessing himself of the person and services of a black man
belonging to a whale ship, who had strayed too far from his
companions, and whom Pat held in durance for a long time.

At ten, A.M., we parted company with the Tamahamah, and sailed for
the Marqueses Islands.  The turtle with which our deck was covered,
were very troublesome and offensive for about a week, when they
became quite domesticated and gave us not the slightest
inconvenience.  For two or three weeks we served them to the crew
constantly, in lieu of the usual allowance of salt provisions.  It
was a most valuable substitute, and important to us, as we were bound
upon a long cruise, as well for the health of the crew as for the
preservation of our sea stock.  When the number became comparatively
small, we discontinued the general use of them, and served them only
once or twice a week.  We never fed them, and for aught I could see,
they were equally as fat and healthy a month after they were taken on
board, as on the first day.  As a sea stock nothing can be more
convenient or better calculated for a long cruise.  They may be put
any where and kept in almost any way, and if it should be thought
advisable to feed them, there is scarcely any vegetable substance
that they will not eat after they are a little domesticated.  The
liver of this turtle is particularly delicious.  When fried, it is
not unlike a fine oyster, and although partaken very freely of, no
ill effect is ever experienced from it.  Sixteen days after leaving
Charles Island, we made the island Rooahooga, one of the southernmost
of the Marqueses group.  The wind was fresh and blew steadily from
the southward and eastward, accompanied by a heavy swell.  As we
approached the islands, we had some rainy and cloudy weather, but
with this exception, our whole passage was attended with clear days
and fine moonlight nights.  In latitude three degrees south, and
longitude ninety-five degrees west, we observed a remarkable
appearance in the water, which, had we been navigating an
unfrequented ocean, would have very much alarmed us.  At several
different times during the day, on September 12th, we passed through
violent rips, and at times nearly the whole ocean assumed the
appearance and agitation of boiling water.

Throughout our passage, we remarked, that whenever the wind hauled to
the southward of southeast, it increased in force.  It occurred so
frequently as to be a subject of general remark.

On the 20th of September, in latitude seven degrees fifty minutes
south, and longitude one hundred and twenty degrees thirty minutes
west, we saw a comet for the first time, thirty or forty degrees
above the horizon, and bearing from us east by north.  At day-light,
on the morning of September 26th, several of the southernmost of the
Marqueses were in sight.  They were all mountainous, but covered with
vegetation, and as we drew near presented a pleasing contrast to the
sterile and gloomy Gallapagos.  We stood along the shore of La
Dominica, admiring the beautiful little valleys that were presented
to our view in quick succession, where villages of palm-thatched
huts, surrounded by clumps of tall cocoa-nut and wide-spreading bread
fruit trees, formed scenes of rural quiet calculated to fill the
imagination with the most agreeable conceptions of the happy
condition of their inhabitants.  At length we came to a small bay
where the valley was more populous than any we had seen before, and
the captain, to our great satisfaction, hauled up for it and stood
close in towards the island.  We lowered a boat, and providing
ourselves with a few trifles for presents, pulled into the bay within
a few yards of the shore.  The beach was already thronged with people
of all ages, male and female, who invited us to land by the most
significant gestures, whilst many of them were singing and dancing to
express their joy.  The surrounding rocks and hills were covered with
groups of females, gaily decked off with their neat head-dresses of
the white Tapa cloth and many-coloured robes, which were floating in
the wind, half concealing and half exposing their fantastically
painted limbs.  When they saw that we would not land, the men and
boys dashed into the water with whatever they had to offer us, and
swam off to the boat.  A chief, who had a dry wreath of cocoa-nut
around his brows, came off with them; and, upon being invited, got
into the boat, where he remained until our departure, apparently
giving orders from time to time to those who were passing and
repassing from the shore to the boat.  In a few minutes, they had
presented us with a considerable quantity of cocoa-nuts, bananas, and
papayas, for which we gave them in return a few trifling articles,
the most valuable of which were glass beads.  The chief had his eyes
constantly fixed upon our fire-arms, and finally gave us to
understand, by motions, that a pistol would be acceptable to him.
With this intimation we could not comply; but he bore the refusal
with great good nature, and for some time after our store of little
presents was exhausted, his people continued to bring us off fruit
without the expectation of any return.  When they found that we were
serious in our refusal to land, the women came from the hills and
assembled on the rocks close to us, where, in a nearer view, they
could display their persons to more advantage, and charm us with the
melody of their voices.  There they all joined in songs, keeping time
by clapping their hands, stopping occasionally to receive the
applause of the men and to invite us on shore.  Several of them, male
and female, swam off to the boat; and when we were about to depart,
insisted so strongly upon going on board with us that we had to use
some violence to get clear of them.

We continued on in the afternoon, soon passing La Dominica, and at
sundown made Rooahooga ahead.  The weather being squally and the
island only fifteen miles from us, we lay by for the night.  At
daylight, we found ourselves a few miles distant from the middle of
the south side of the island, where a bay presented itself, which, at
a distance, promised to afford anchorage.  On a nearer approach,
however, its appearance changed, and as there were but few signs of
inhabitants, we ran along toward the west end of the island.  This
part of it had not much appearance of fertility, although we saw a
few large trees.  It is high, broken, and indented with a number of
small bays, none of which are large enough to form a harbour.  In
rounding the southwest point of the island we had sudden and violent
gusts of wind.  Invisible Bay is situated a little to the westward of
this point, and although it has somewhat the appearance of a harbour,
and presents to view a beautiful sand beach, we saw no indications of
inhabitants.  About ten miles to the north, we anchored in twenty
fathoms water, having rocky bottom, and an inaccessible rocky shore
where the surf breaks violently.  The captain and several officers
went back to Invisible Bay in one of the boats, and in a cave close
to the shore they found five or six natives, who at their approach,
fled to the hills, making signs for our people to depart.  In the
cave, they found a few fishing-nets.  They tried to prevail upon the
natives to come near, but their demonstrations of friendship were
answered only by motions expressive of hostility.  The landing was
difficult, as the shore was rocky, and a considerable surf broke upon
it, although the bay was tolerably protected by a projecting point.
Soon after meridian, we got under way and shaped our course for
Nooaheeva, which was plainly in sight from Rooahooga.  We stood
along, with a fine breeze and clear weather, and at three, P.M.,
rounded the north-eastern extremity of Nooaheeva, when a spacious
harbour, called Comptroller's Bay, opened to our view.  It is about
three miles deep, and at its inner extremity are two projecting
points that extend out for more than a mile, and form three small
harbours.  We were no sooner observed by the natives on shore, than
they put off in a number of large canoes and pulled with great
rapidity towards us.  The wind was light and baffling, and we
advanced slowly into the harbour.  In a few minutes, we were
surrounded by canoes, containing from six to eight men each.  They
belonged to different tribes, which they attempted to explain to us
with great earnestness of speech and gesture, but as we had no one on
board who knew much of the language, we were greatly at a loss to
comprehend their meaning.  They had not followed us long when two of
the canoes came along side, one on each quarter, and the men crawled
up the side and perched themselves upon the hammocks, like so many
monkeys, where they called out in a loud voice, addressing themselves
alternately to us and to the natives on the side of the vessel
opposite to them,--one party exclaiming "Mattee, mattee, Typee!" and
the other "Mattee, mattee,[4] Happah!" and occasionally using angry
gestures with the exclamation.  This was too expressive for us not to
understand.  They belonged to different tribes, the Typee, and
Happah; and were mutually trying to prejudice us against the tribe to
which they did not belong, in order to induce us to anchor in their
own bay.  Both the bays were beautiful, but as the Happahs' was the
most populous and nearest to us, we gave it the preference; and a
little before sunset anchored in twenty fathoms water within a
cable's length of the shore.  The Typees no sooner saw that we were
standing in for the Happah Bay, than they hurried into their canoe
and paddled off for their village as fast as they could.  The Happah
valley was a romantic spot.  A plain, a league or two in
circumference, stretched back to the mountains in a semicircular
form, presenting in front a clear white sand beach about a mile long.
The plain was covered with cocoa-nuts, with bread-fruit interspersed,
and near enough to form a continued shade without presenting the
appearance of a dense forest.  Scattered about every where through
these trees were the palm-thatched habitations of the natives.  In
the rear of the plain, the mountains rose precipitously, forming an
insuperable barrier against the incursions of other tribes.  The land
rose gently to the left, but it was almost barren and added nothing
to the beauty of the landscape.  On the extreme right, a considerable
mountain and a point projecting far out into the bay, separated the
Happahs from the tribes that lived beyond them in that direction.
Nothing could equal the apparent joy of the natives when they saw us
anchored in front of their village.  The whole tribe, which probably
did not exceed five hundred, flocked down to the beach, expressing
their satisfaction by dancing and singing.  Hundreds of them dashed
into the water and swam off to us, so that we had not time to furl
sails and clear the deck before the vessel was crowded with people.
To show them that we had the means of making successful resistance
against any hostile intention they might adopt, we paraded our
musketeers upon the deck and practised them, a ceremony that appeared
to afford the natives very great amusement.  We allowed them to
remain on board until the dusk of evening, when the number being so
great as to make the vessel uncomfortable, and apprehending that in
the course of the night they might appropriate to themselves many
things that they would find about the deck, and which could not
conveniently be spared, we sent most of them on shore.  The chiefs
and a few others who expressed a great desire to remain, were
permitted to pass the night with us.

On the following day, I took a few presents with me and went over to
the Typee valley, to visit that tribe, celebrated as the most warlike
of Nooaheeva.  As soon as the boat was perceived, the people came
running towards the beach in every direction, and before she reached
the shore we were surrounded by great numbers, who plunged into the
water and swam off to us.  As many as we could conveniently
accommodate were permitted to get into the boat, where they treated
me so unceremoniously that I did not think it prudent to land.
Amongst those who paid me a visit was a chief of the tribe.  He was a
man about thirty years of age, well-featured and of fine proportions.
His deportment was grave and dignified, but like the rest of our new
acquaintances, who swam off to us, he was quite naked except a slight
covering about his loins.  The common people treated him with great
deference, and never intruded upon that part of the boat where he was
seated.  He made us understand that he wished to obtain muskets and
powder, for the purchase of which he had caused five or six large
hogs to be brought down, that were tied and laying on the shore.  I
offered him whatever else I had that I thought would induce him to
part with them; but he obstinately refused any other consideration
than muskets and powder.  Large quantities of cocoa-nuts, bananas,
and papayas were thrown into the boat by the people who were swimming
around us, and when we had been lying there an hour, we had as many
in the boat as we could conveniently carry.  I had a variety of
presents, such as beads, buttons, &c., all of which the common people
were very anxious to obtain; but the chief would take nothing from me
of less consequence than fire-arms or gunpowder.  I offered him
flints and musket balls, which, although of great value amongst the
natives, he would not receive.  He invited me frequently, with great
earnestness of manner, to land, until he found, by my repeated
refusals, that I was determined to remain in my boat.

The bay of the Typees was rather smaller than that of the Happah
tribe.  They live principally upon the side of a mountain that rises
gently from the shore.  The number of the tribe appeared to be about
the same as that of the Happahs.  Their houses are situated in
circular chains of villages, rising one above the other, from the
base to near the top of the mountain, where it terminates in rude and
uninhabitable cliffs.  Groves and clumps of cocoa-nut, and
bread-fruit trees are every where interspersed with the dwellings,
and the mind of the observer being impressed with the idea of their
usefulness to the natives, gives a double effect to the beautiful
landscape adorned by their waving tops and broad green leaves.  We
had several occasions to remark the inveterate dislike that the
Typees and Happahs entertained towards each other.

On the morning after our arrival, the sailing-master went on shore in
the Happah valley to obtain an altitude of the sun by the artificial
horizon He was shy of the natives, as we all were at first, and
apprehending that some of them might approach him with a hostile
intention, while his back was turned towards them, and having heard
that they held in great reverence a place said to be Tabooed, or
consecrated, he made a circle round his place observation, and told
the natives, who had followed him in great numbers, that the space
within the circle was Tabooed.  They stared at him in silence and
stood back from it; but by and by, when he was intently engaged in
getting his altitude, one of the natives, supposing that he was
employed in some plan (to him incomprehensible) to destroy the
Typees, as he turned the face of his sextant in that direction,
crawled up gently behind the sailing-master, without being perceived
by him, and suddenly tapping him two or three times on the shoulder,
exclaimed with great energy, "Mattee, mattee, Typee!"  It may readily
be supposed that his imagination, which was very much excited before,
was not soothed by this salutation.  He turned upon the native,
expressing in look and manner his consternation and displeasure,
which was only met by the delighted Indian with a repetition of
"Mattee, mattee, Typee!"

On the morning of the 25th, I went on shore, in company with several
of the officers, to indulge our curiosity and ramble about the
valley.  We were soon surrounded by a group of natives, who followed
us wherever we went.  Our first object was to visit the chief of the
valley, whose residence we found at the distance of two or three
hundred yards from the shore.  It was a plain, oblong hut, thirty by
twenty feet.  Its simple structure was such as is first suggested to
the untutored mind--a few poles laid over crotches, upon which was
framed a triangular roof, and the whole thatched with palm or
cocoa-nut leaves.  When we entered this regal hut we found the chief
seated near one end of it, who barely condescended to notice us as we
approached to make our salutations.  We were not prepared for so rude
a reception and felt somewhat mortified to find a chief of his
distinguished rank so totally destitute of courtesy.  We thought at
least that he would have risen from his sitting posture, and expected
more from him than our after experience taught us we had a right to
look for from people in a state of nature.  The only furniture in the
hut was a few coarse mats.  At one side of it five muskets, highly
polished, were arranged one above the other, over which hung two kegs
of powder sewed up in canvass, and near them a few long spears and a
war conch, ornamented with human hair.  We made ourselves as much at
home as if we had received a more cordial welcome, and indulged our
curiosity in examining whatever we saw, when suddenly the chief rose
and his silence and gravity were at once explained.  We had remarked
that he had an uncommonly large black robe thrown over him, but
without the least suspicion that it covered any one else than
himself.  He suddenly threw it aside as we came near him and there
stood his wife, a girl about eighteen years of age, who had just
finished making her toilet.  He pointed to her with a look of
satisfaction, and uttered "Motake," a word we afterwards learned,
signified very good, or very well.  Although she was naturally a
pretty girl, she had made herself a hideous looking object.  She had
smeared her face all over with a coarse yellow paint, upon which was
drawn streaks of black and green, than which nothing could have
appeared more disgusting.  She assumed a manner and look of
affectation, such as may often have been observed in some
self-approving beauty, who, conscious of her charms, feels that she
is an object of admiration to all around her.  When I expressed my
disapprobation of her style of ornament, she stared at me with a look
of surprise, which seemed to ask what I was saying.  I soon gave both
her and the chief to understand, by signs; after which they seemed
not so well pleased with themselves or each other; and when I saw her
again in the evening she was without any ornament, and looked all the
better for it.  While here, two grotesque figures came in and walked
up to me with an austere look.  They had a profusion of cock's
feathers bound circularly round their brows, broad gorgets of wood
ornamented with red berries round their necks, shell bracelets and
ornaments of polished shell or bone tied above their ancles.  Each
held in his hand a fan of palmetto.  After standing a few moments,
keeping their eyes fixed upon me, they began jumping up and down and
fanning themselves, applying both hands to the fan.  My first feeling
was surprise, mingled with curiosity, to know the cause of their
strange appearance; but when they had several times repeated their
exercise, the scene was altogether so ridiculous that I could not
refrain from laughing.  They soon afterwards, without even noticing
the chief, turned and walked off.  After leaving the hut of the
chief, I visited a number of others, all of which were nearly alike.
In one of them I saw two drums, the only instruments of music that I
met with.  The largest of them was a hollow log, from three to four
feet long, and about a foot and a half in diameter, covered at both
ends with shark skin.  I asked the owner to play upon it, to which he
readily consented, seeming highly flattered with the invitation.  He
accompanied his voice by thumping his hands and elbows on the
drum-head; but the music that he made was intolerable.  He beat,
however, in very good time, and had evidently a high opinion of his
performance.

In the course of our ramble, one of the officers told an Indian, who
had joined us, by signs, that he wanted some cocoa-nuts.  The
good-natured fellow acquiesced without the least hesitation, and to
our great astonishment, ran up a tree standing near us, with the
activity of a squirrel.  The tree was forty or fifty feet high,
having but a slight inclination, yet the climbing seemed to occasion
him scarcely any exertion.  They do not press their bodies against
the tree and hitch themselves up as is customary with us, which, in
their naked condition, they could not do without injury.  They press
the bottoms of their feet against the tree, and clinging to it with
their hands one above the other, ascend upon all-fours.  It did not
strike us with less surprise when he had thrown the cocoa-nuts down,
to see with what facility he stripped off the hard husks without the
aid of any thing but his teeth.  For such a thing to have been
accomplished by one of us would be found impossible.  We afterwards
remarked the same practise in other places, and at other islands.  It
was general except with the old men, who, unless they were very
robust, used a sharp-pointed stick of hard wood to remove the husk.

They could not understand our practice of shaking hands.  When we
extended a hand to one of them as a mark of friendly salutation, they
looked as though they would question what was meant by it; and from
their manner seemed to think that our object was to feel their skin,
which they would always reciprocate by raising up our sleeves and
examining very minutely.

On the morning of the 29th of September, which was the last of our
remaining in Comptroller's Bay, I made another excursion to the Typee
Bay, taking with me the chief of the Happahs, who was very anxious to
go.  I wondered at this, as the tribes evinced so much dislike to
each other; but afterwards saw, in my intercourse with the natives of
the South Sea Islands, that uncivilized men are capable of as much
duplicity towards each other as the educated and refined.  When we
had arrived within a hundred yards of the shore we were met by the
chief with whom I had formed an acquaintance on the preceding day.
He saluted the chief of the Happahs in a way that indicated a former
acquaintance, but with a look and manner somewhat formal.  The Typee
chief immediately spoke to some one near him, who ran off and in a
few minutes returned with a calabash filled with a preparation of the
bread-fruit, upon which was poured a quantity of milk expressed from
a cocoa-nut.  This was offered by the Typee to the Happah chief, and
I was also invited to partake of it.  I tasted and found it very
palatable.  The two chiefs seated themselves in the stern of the
boat, and made a hearty breakfast, using their fingers instead of
spoons.  Neither of them seemed very communicative, as only a few
words passed between them at this interview.  There was also in the
boat a young woman belonging to the chief's family, for whom
breakfast was brought in the shell of a cocoa-nut, and which was a
preparation of the cocoa-nut and bread-fruit, sour and disagreeable
to the taste.  This, I was informed, is the food upon which the women
almost entirely subsist, they being Tabooed from eating whatever is
held in high estimation by the men.  When the chiefs had finished
their repast, the Typee pointed to his hogs, which he had again
caused to be brought down upon the beach, saying that he wanted
powder or guns for them, but unfortunately I had neither of these
valuable articles with which to make an exchange with him, and he
would consider nothing else as an equivalent.  He sent for several
old muskets that were very much out of order, and proposed to go on
board with me and have them repaired, making me understand by signs,
that he would in return present me with hogs.  His anxiety was so
great upon this subject, that I found it difficult to put a stop to
his solicitations.  In the mean time, however, I saw the schooner
underway, and dismissing my Typee friends, pulled away for the Happah
Bay.  When I had approached within half a mile of the Happah village,
the schooner was almost out of the harbour, and the chief observing
that I was anxious to get on board, proposed jumping into the water
and swimming home, to which I readily consented.  He then stripped
himself of his neck and ear ornaments, which consisted of two white
pieces of polished shell and a carved image of bone, and presenting
them to me as a token of his regard, plunged into the water, leaving
me free to pursue my way to the vessel without the trouble of landing
him.  Most of the ornaments worn by these people, are of bone or
shells, finely polished or rudely carved.  They attach a number of
them to a piece of cocoa-nut twine, and wear them around their necks,
or wrists, or ancles, as may be most agreeable to the taste and fancy
of the individuals.  A more expensive and difficult ornament to
obtain is a gorget.  It is a piece of wood, semi-circular, about
three inches wide, carved to fit the neck, covered with a beautiful
red and black berry, and stuck on with a gum that oozes from the tree
of the bread-fruit.  On the hill that rises to the left of the
valley, we planted a variety of seeds of fruit, vegetables and grain,
but the natives of the valley are so totally ignorant of every thing
that relates to agriculture, that it is not probable they will ever
derive any advantage from them.  Whilst we were in Happah Bay, the
weather was clear and delightful.  The temperature so regular that no
change was felt in the transition from day to night.

On the 30th of September, we stood out of Comptroller's Bay, and ran
down for Massachusetts' Bay, a place made familiar to our countrymen
by Commodore Porter's long and interesting visit.  The two points
that form the harbours of Comptroller's and Massachusetts' Bays, are
about seven miles distant from each other.  At one, P.M., we were
clear of the projecting southern point of Comptroller's Bay, and at
three, P.M., anchored in eight fathoms water, within half a mile of
the hill at the bottom of the bay, called Porter's Monument.  Before
we came to anchor, the water was covered with canoes, and people of
both sexes and all ages swimming towards us, and as soon as the
vessel lost her head way, they were crawling up on all sides like so
many rats.  They were not less delighted with our arrival than were
the Happahs.  Hundreds were collected on the shore, and all
expressing their satisfaction by songs and dances.  Amongst our first
visitors, were two English sailors who had deserted from whale ships,
and been long enough resident on the island to converse in the
language of the natives.  With them came also a native of Nooaheeva,
and a native of Otaheite, both of whom had served a considerable time
in whale ships, and could converse in broken English.  We were
therefore in no want of interpreters, and it seemed at once to
introduce us to the confidence and friendship of our new
acquaintances.

The harbour of Massachusetts' Bay is spacious and affords good
anchorage for ships of the largest class.  The only part of it,
however, where landing is not attended with difficulty and some
danger, is the east side, where there is a fine sand beach from a
quarter to half a mile long, at one extremity of which empties a
small rivulet of pure and excellent water into the bay.  Landing may
be effected at the watering-place beyond Porter's Monument, where
there is a more considerable stream of fresh water, but it is always
difficult, and when the surf is high, cannot fail to be dangerous.
At this place we watered the Dolphin; but had to swim the casks to
and from the shore, and altogether, it was a laborious undertaking.
Along the east and north part of the bay there is a long reef that
makes at a short distance from the shore, upon which a heavy surf is
always breaking.  In entering the bay, the whole habitable part of
this section of the island is presented at one view, and forms a most
grand and beautiful landscape.  It is nearly semi-circular, and rises
like an amphitheatre, in fruitful and populous circular ranges of
hills, until at the distance of several miles, it terminates in a
circumference of high and gloomy mountains, the tops of which
resemble a massive wall.  This rude and barren circle of mountain
contrasts finely with the fertile ranges below, covered with their
forests of cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees, and huts and villages
every where scattered about through hill and dale.  Nor is the
extreme elevation without its interest and beauty.  A number of
little cataracts reflecting the rays of the sun and looking like
sheets of liquid silver, break in upon the gloom of the sterile rock,
adding brilliancy as they descend to the lively prospect below.
After a shower, not less than fifty of these splendid falls of water
may be seen, some of which are but just perceptible through the
intervening space between hills and trees, producing an effect
peculiarly agreeable.  What is called Porter's Monument, is a round
hill from fifty to an hundred feet high, situated at the east
extremity of the bay.  It was here that Commodore Porter had his
Fort, not a vestige of which is now remaining.  It is overrun with a
wild luxuriant growth of vines and grass, and no trace of a footstep
can be found.  On one side of the hill, near its base, was stretched
a bark line, which was attended by a man who calls himself Opotee,
and who declares the hill beyond it to be tabooed.  Upon one
occasion, as I was approaching it, some natives called out "Taboo,
Taboo!" but Opotee immediately expressed his willingness that I
should pass, as I was a countryman of his namesake, Opotee.  To the
north of Porter's Monument, and back from the sand beach, where was
the navy-yard, all is now overgrown with bushes and trees, some of
which have attained to a considerable size.  Like the monument, there
is no indication of its ever having been occupied for any human
purpose,

On the first of October, the day after our arrival, I went on shore,
taking with me a great variety of seeds, for the purpose of planting
them where it was most probable they would be taken care of and come
to maturity.  The natives flocked round me in great numbers.  There
was not less than a hundred boys with the crowd of men and women that
followed me.  They were highly delighted when they discovered my
object, which was explained to them by John Luxon, the native of
Nooaheeva, who spoke English.  Whenever we came to a rough or muddy
place, which was frequently the case, the boys and men,
notwithstanding my remonstrances, would mount me on their shoulders
and carry me over, with loud shouting.  I could easily perceive that
this was a frolic with those who engaged in it, and done out of
levity and the caprice of the moment; but I could not but feel that
they had been first stimulated to it by the favourable impression
they had conceived of my design.  I planted some things in
unfrequented places where I found a clear spot, but most of the seeds
and fruit-pits, in the enclosures of the natives.  John Luxon was a
man of some rank as a chief, and possessed considerable property.  To
one of his enclosures that was large and seemed to have been attended
with unusual care, I devoted most of my attention.  There, aided by
several of the natives, who laboured with great assiduity, I prepared
the ground and made quite an extensive plantation of orange, lemon,
cheromaya, peach, apricot, water-melons, pumpkins, potatoes, onions,
beans, corn, and a variety of other fruits and grain, from Peru.  He
expressed himself in terms of the warmest gratitude, and I have no
doubt that the natives have already experienced the most important
benefits from the memento I left them of the Dolphin's visit to their
Island.

In the course of my days' occupation, I was several times driven into
Luxon's house by the frequent showers that came over.  I no sooner
entered, than the natives flocked after me, and in a few minutes the
hut would be crowded.  The little boys and girls here shewed me the
same officious attention that I received in making my way to the
village, but expressed in a different manner.  As many as could
approach would surround me with their fans, keeping them going until
the rain ceased, and I was again enabled to resume my work.  This was
a kind of civility, peculiarly agreeable, as the weather was
oppressively warm; but I could not fail to discover that my little
attendants were all candidates for my friendly notice and bestowed
their civility with the expectation of some reward.  I had a few
trifles about me, but not enough to give to all, and felt at a loss
in what way I should make my presents, fearing that the least
favoured would be mortified and displeased.  It seemed however to
make no difference.  It was all "motake"[5] with them.  All seemed
satisfied.  On my return to the beach, I found it thronged with men,
women, and children.  All the beauty and fashion of Massachusetts'
Bay had assembled in honour of our arrival, decked out in their
finest tappas, and gayest colours.  The females were dressed in the
best style of their island, with neat turbans of tappa-cloth, white,
or ornamented with colours, a white robe of the same material thrown
loosely over them, tastefully knotted on one shoulder, concealing
half the bosom, and a wrapper round the waist that reached below the
knee.  They were arranged in groups of a dozen each, singing merrily
and clapping their hands in time to the music of their voices.  A
little way from them the men were seated in the same manner and
similarly occupied.  The ladies, to improve their charms, had used an
abundant quantity of cocoa-nut oil, which filled the air with its
nauseous perfumes for an hundred yards round.  Many of them had more
highly anointed themselves with yellow paint, which, with the
cocoa-nut oil, was running from them in streams.  Some had decorated
themselves with necklaces of a golden yellow fruit which bears a
strong resemblance to a pine-apple, and emits a powerful offensive
smell.  At a distance, with their variegated robes flying in the
wind, their appearance was altogether agreeable, and upon a near
approach the scene was animated beyond description.  The dusk of
evening was the signal for their dispersion, when some went one way
and some another.  On the second of October, I wandered back upon the
hills, and had all the boys with me that followed me on the preceding
day.

They renewed their frolic of carrying me, and whenever I seated
myself, came round me as many as could approach, each with a green
leaf for a fan.  I entered unceremoniously a number of the huts,
where I almost always found one or more men, in nearly every
instance, extended on their backs, their heads resting on a log laid
along on one side of the hut, and their heels on another, about four
feet from the first.  They would never rise to receive me, but utter
"motake," when I was perceived by them, and make motions for me to do
as they did, offering me at the same time a fan, one of which they
were using almost constantly.  In the course of my ramble, I met with
a little girl, twelve or fourteen years old, who was very pretty,
attended by a servant, the only instance in which I remarked such a
thing on the island.  She was evidently walking out to make a visit,
and had just arrived at the house of her destination when I met her.
I put some beads round her neck, which seemed to delight her very
much; but an old man present, whose hut she was about to visit,
assumed an angry look, and seemed to threaten by his manner.  He
changed his conduct, however, when I made him a trifling present, and
the little girl, taking my hand, led me to her father's hut.  He was
a chief of some consequence, as was indicated by the possession of
two or three casks of powder, and six muskets.  These he took down,
and displayed very ostentatiously, and wanted to know if I had not
others to dispose of.  His conduct was altogether kind and
hospitable, in acknowledgment for which I made him a present at my
departure.  Whenever I wanted cocoa-nuts to quench my thirst, I had
only to signify it to one of the men that was following me about, and
he would supply me from the nearest tree.  With one fellow I was very
much amused.  He carried his arms full of cocoa-nuts following me
about nearly all day, and when I returned to the vessel I presented
him with a musket ball, with which he was perfectly satisfied, said
it was "motake," and went away.  When I returned to the beach in the
evening, I found the natives, male and female, assembled in as great
numbers as on the day previous, and amusing themselves in the same
way.  The females were again in their finest attire, and at a
distance might any where else have been mistaken for an assemblage of
fashionable belles.  We were apprehensive that our men, a number of
whom were at work on shore, would have been very much annoyed by the
intrusion of the natives.  This, however, was not the case.  When
they commenced their work in the morning a circle was made,
comprehending the whole space we wished them to occupy, which we told
the natives was tabooed, and there was not an instance of their
passing it.  The next day they held quite a fair on the beach.
Amongst other things, they had for trade large quantities of
cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit.  The former they exchanged for small
pieces of tobacco; but a piece of iron hoop, fashioned into a tool or
instrument of husbandry, was demanded for the latter.  They were all
day on the beach, cooking and eating their bread-fruit and
cocoa-nuts.  In the evening, the boys and men amused us with playing
soldiers, by ranging themselves in a line with sticks for muskets.
One of our officers took a particular pleasure in making grimaces,
and talking a gibberish to the natives in imitation of their manner
of speaking.  It was very offensive to them; but they respected us
too much to betray their displeasure.  Upon one occasion, however, he
amused himself in this way with the boys, about a hundred of whom
were assembled, when I encouraged them to retaliate on him, by
clucking like a hen.  They soon discovered that it was disagreeable
to him, and assembled round him like so many little furies, clucking
with all their might.  It seemed to delight them to have an
opportunity of revenging themselves upon him, which they did most
amply, for they did not let him rest a moment until he went on board,
which was soon afterwards, highly displeased with me for conspiring
with the Indians against him.  We were often amused with the strange
and ridiculous taste of the natives in the article of dress.

They were all desirous of obtaining clothes, and a number of old
garments were given them, or exchanged for curiosities by the
officers and crew.  When obtained, whether they fitted or not, the
Indians immediately put them on, and scarcely ever more than one
garment at a time.  Thus, half naked and half attired, a native would
walk about with exceeding gravity, admiring himself, and believing
that every one else was equally pleased with his genteel appearance.

Whenever they seated themselves to sing, a person was selected to
occupy a conspicuous station, and perform a dance round the circle,
slowly, and in the most graceful native style, striking at the same
time the hollow of his left arm with his right hand, in time with the
music of their voices.  This distinction was always conferred upon
some one who had obtained an old jacket or tattered shirt.  If he had
on a jacket, it was sure to be buttoned closely round him, with the
two or three remaining buttons, and the sleeves, if not torn off,
would probably not reach more than half the length of his arms.  Thus
attired, he would perform his evolutions round the circle slowly, and
with a most serious air, stopping occasionally to receive the
applause of the singers, who bestowed it upon him with great
enthusiasm.  Soon after daylight, one morning I was on the beach, and
my curiosity led me to a place, where a number of females were busily
employed in collecting something from the rocks.  When I approached
them they discontinued their occupation, and would have fled, but I
called them back, and prevailed upon them to renew their occupation.
Each of them was provided with a green leaf, in which she was
gathering from the rocks a species of fine green sea moss and small
snails.  What they preserved in the leaf was intended for their
families at home.  They ate freely of them, and said it was "motake."
The moss was tender, but to me had no other taste than that of salt
water, with which it was covered at high tide.  The snails were not
larger than a pea, covered with a hard shell, and when broken, heated
the tongue like pepper.  The moss, when gathered, had a most
disgusting appearance.  I was told by the Englishmen, residing here,
that the natives esteem it a very great delicacy.  One of the females
had an infant with her a few months old, which she was teaching to
swim by holding it in a pool of water, and occasionally letting it
go.  The infant would make a slight effort, when let go by the
mother, and, no doubt, was taught to swim almost as soon as it could
walk.  On the third of October, in walking through the habitable part
of the valley, I was every where met by females, who addressed me
with a smile, and finely modulated tone of voice, "Coare ta
whyhene?"[6]  The father of one of these, good naturedly conducted me
to the hut of a chief, highest in blood of any in the valley.  He was
a man upwards of fifty, and apparently more civilized than any of the
natives I had seen before.  He told the interpreter to say, that he
felt pleasure in seeing me at his hut.  It was about forty by twenty
feet, and constructed in the same way as that occupied by the Happah
chief, differing in no respect from those of the common people,
except in dimensions.  His rank and importance was displayed in the
possession of six muskets, and two casks of powder that hung directly
fronting the door, and which the chief took occasion to point out to
me soon after I entered.  To him they were a treasure, and, in fact,
the wealth and consequence of every individual seemed to be estimated
by this standard alone.  The powder was covered over with canvass,
and the muskets highly polished.  On one side of the hut were two
logs, about three feet apart, and between them a coarse mat, for the
convenience of laying down on, one log being intended for the head,
and the other for the feet.  Whilst I was here, a number of visitors
came in, and, walking directly to the logs, without noticing any one,
threw themselves down between them, their heads on one, and feet on
the other, where they lay, fanning themselves, and looking at us,
without saying a word, except once or twice, when they saw me looking
at them, I was saluted with "motake."  In the middle of the hut was
the coffin of the chief's father, who had died about six months
previous.  It was the trunk of a large bread-fruit tree, six or eight
feet long, highly polished, and the lid so ingeniously fitted, that
the place of contact could not be seen but by the closest
examination.  He told me that his father had been a great warrior,
and the friend of Opotee.[7]  Before his door was a swivel, and a
number of shot, that he said he had obtained from Opotee.  He prized
them very highly, although they could not be of the least use to him,
except as they served to gratify his vanity.  When I expressed a
desire to know the manner in which they prepared the paint, used by
the females, he directed his son to get some of the root, and grind
it between two stones, mixing a little water with it, the only
process required.  I gave the chief's wife (who was an old woman)
some beads, and a cotton handkerchief, with which she was so
delighted, that she threw both her arms around my neck, and embraced
me most affectionately.  She was painted all over, quite yellow, and
so thoroughly smeared my clothes, that I paid dearly for this
expression of her regard.  At parting, the chief presented me with a
hog (the only one we obtained at the Marquesas), some sticks of the
tappa tree, and offered whatever was acceptable to me, about his
house.  We also exchanged names, and I promised again to visit him,
but had no opportunity afterwards.  His son accompanied me on board,
carrying the presents his father had made me, and all the way calling
me "Kappe," the name of his father, and himself, by my name.

In the evening, when I returned to the vessel, she was crowded with
natives, the work of the day being completed.  The men and women were
in different circles, singing their songs.  That of the women,
resembled the croaking of a great many frogs.  The quick and lively
motion of their hands, accompanying the various modulations of the
voice, exhibited a great activity, and command of muscle, and was far
more pleasing than their music.  There was one amongst the females,
who possessed great powers of voice, in the utterance of strange
sounds, in which none of the rest could accompany her.  The
performance seemed to distress her very much, and was certainly very
disagreeable; yet the natives would all stop occasionally, to listen
to her, and, when she was done, exclaimed, with seeming surprise,
"motake!"

On the 4th of October, I took a boat, prepared with arms, and
providing myself with a few presents, ran down for Lewis' Bay, to
ascertain the depth of water at the entrance of the harbour, what
difficulties might probably attend our running in with the schooner,
and whether it afforded any better prospect than the other places we
had visited, of obtaining a supply of hogs.  The distance was only
six miles, and, with a fine breeze, we were at the entrance of the
harbour in little more than an hour.  It was very narrow, formed by
two high points of land, and the depth of water abundantly sufficient
for ships of the largest class.  A heavy and broken swell made the
entrance appear difficult: and, without a fair wind, it is so
confined, that it would be hazardous to attempt it; but the gorge
being once passed, you enter a large smooth basin, where there is
scarcely a ripple, the land rising high all around it, and the points
locking with each other.  In the basin we found good anchorage, in
from four to nine fathoms water, and a clay bottom.  Lewis' Bay is
divided into two parts by a projecting point of rocks.  I first
landed in that which fronts the entrance, or rather went into the
edge of the surf.  A great many people, of all ages, came swimming
off through the surf, and in a few moments the boat was full of them,
and of fruit of various kinds.  They were anxious for me to land, but
I saw there would be great difficulty in my getting off again, in the
event of any misunderstanding with them, which was not altogether
impossible.  I did not remain long, but, dismissing the natives who
had crawled into the boat, or were hanging on the gunwale, pulled
round the point of rocks to the other landing.  When first I went
into this part of the harbour, I could perceive only two or three
persons, who were afraid to come near us.  They gradually relaxed in
their timidity, however, and kept nearing us a little, until we at
last prevailed upon them to get into the boat.  As soon as they saw
our muskets, which they thought were intended for trade; but which
were only for our protection, they ran away, saying, they would bring
us hogs directly.  In the mean time the news of our arrival spread,
far and wide, over the valley, and the people came running from every
direction, with whatever they could most readily possess themselves
of, for trade.  Every body wanted muskets, and a chief had seven or
eight hogs brought to the beach, all of which he offered for one gun.
After spending an hour or two here, on the most friendly terms with
the natives, I prepared to depart, and missed one of my shoes, that I
had thrown off wet.  Search was made in the boat, without finding it,
when it was remarked, that a native had been seen crawling in the
water for a considerable distance to a rock near the shore, where he
deposited something, and returned.  Upon examination, we found the
shoe wrapped up in a piece of tappa cloth, the Indian having stolen
it, without reflecting that the possession of one shoe, without the
other, was of no value to him, or perhaps not caring whether it was
or not, so that he gratified his propensity to steal.  When I
returned a short distance, and held the shoe up to show the natives
that I had recovered it, they set up a loud laugh, which I
interpreted into applause, of the ingenious exploit of their
countryman.  The valley of Lewis' Bay is not to be compared to either
of the other places we visited on the island, for beauty or
fertility.  It is, however, quite populous, and the scenery is grand
and picturesque.  The land gradually rises from a small plain below,
like the valley occupied by the Typees, in a succession of hills, and
terminates in a perpendicular high ledge of rocks.  In returning from
Lewis' to Massachusetts' Bay, the wind was ahead, and we pulled close
in with the shore, which, for nearly the whole distance, rises
abruptly, from the ocean, to the height of six or seven hundred feet.
Numerous falls, which were only perceptible in heavy mist, before
they reached the water, were leaping from the top, whilst the sea
beat the sides with unceasing fury, throwing its spray to the height
of more than a hundred feet.  Whilst we were tugging at our oars,
contemplating this magnificent scene, the sea suddenly became
unusually agitated, and threatened, at every instant, to swallow up
the boat.  We pulled directly from the shore, and for half an hour
our situation was very critical, after which the sea became regular.
A phenomenon, so remarkable, baffled all our speculation, and we were
entirely at a loss to determine respecting its cause.  On our arrival
on board, we learned that the vessel had narrowly escaped being
driven on shore in a squall It was not the fault of the anchorage,
but in consequence of the baffling winds which had several times
driven the vessel over her anchor, whereby it was fouled by the
cable, and tripped with the violence of the squall.

The natives, as usual, were assembled on the shore near us, amusing
themselves in their customary way, by singing and dancing.  The
females, having learned from some of the Dolphin's crew, that it was
not in good taste to use cocoa-nut oil, and paint, in such profusion,
left it off, as well as the golden yellow fruit, which had also been
highly disapproved of.  It improved their appearance, and they seemed
to be sensible of the superior estimation in which they were held.
These wild ladies, in truth, who, on our first arrival, came swimming
round, like so many mermaids, grew very fastidious in the short time
we remained at their island.  After the first day or two, they
requested to be allowed to go on board, in our boats, and then,
seeing some of the officers carried through the surf by the seamen,
nothing less would please them, when they did us the honour of a
visit, but to be gallanted on board with the same ceremony.  Our
sailors gallantly condescended to gratify two or three of them; but,
instead of taking them to the boat, they most uncourteously let them
fall into the first heavy roller they encountered, leaving them to
the choice of swimming to the boat, or back to the shore again, after
which none ever asked to be carried.  With regard to their
superstitions or worship, we could learn but little.  John Luxon told
me, that he was tabooed by his father, who was a chief, and that no
common man dared to pass over his head.  He was usually dressed in a
sailor's shirt and trowsers, and an old hat.  He came off regularly
every morning, and ate with us three time a day, taking his seat at
the table, without the least ceremony, and never waiting to be asked.

One day, some one had, designedly or accidentally, thrown some bread
in John's hat, which he did not perceive when he took it up, and put
it on.  When he felt the bread upon his head, he threw his hat off
instantly, and, with a look of the utmost horror, exclaimed, "who put
dat dare?  Me Taboo here!" (putting his hand on his head) "To-morrow
me sick, me die!"  This, he repeated over a number of times, and with
great earnestness of manner tried to find out who had put the bread
in his hat, insisting upon it, that, on the morrow, he should sicken
and die.  The morrow, however, came, and John was alive and well, and
was heartily laughed at for his foolish superstition, when he came on
board as usual to spend the day with us.  I do not believe that John
had the same implicit faith in taboo afterwards.  I tried to find out
from him what was meant by his being tabooed, but he spoke English so
badly, and seemed to understand so little of the matter himself, that
I was not much the wiser for his explanation.  We were told here,
that, a few years since, the missionaries at the Society Islands,
moved by the benevolent purpose of converting the Marquesas islanders
to Christianity, sent one of their number to reside at Massachusetts'
Bay.  The missionary landed amongst his charge, by whom he was
received with characteristic kindness and hospitality.  No other
notice was taken of him, however, than would have been bestowed upon
the most poor and ignorant mariner, seeking an asylum amongst them.
He was permitted to fix upon his place of residence, and live in such
way as pleased him best.  He soon commenced preaching the doctrines
of his faith.  The natives listened to him, wondering at all he said,
but not less at his singular manner of life,--to them unexampled, in
all their acquaintance with the whites,--and, certainly, unparalleled
amongst themselves.  They had always seen the white men, who visited
their islands, take liberties with their females, and mingle with
them in all their pleasures, whilst this man, who called himself a
messenger from the Great Spirit, lived a life of celibacy, retired
from all that, to them, was amusing or agreeable.  When a free
interchange of opinion had taken place amongst them, respecting him,
they came to the conclusion, that he was differently made and
constituted from all other men they had ever seen, and curiosity
being raised to the highest pitch, they, with a levity peculiar to
savages, determined to subject him to a scrutiny.  The missionary,
alarmed at a disposition that evinced so little respect for his
character and personal rights, took his departure by the first
opportunity, since which no attempt has been made to convert the
natives of the Marquesas to Christianity.

The men of the Marquesas, were, in general, quite naked.  But few
ornaments were worn by either sex.  The women frequently had no other
ornament than a small flower, stuck through a slit in their ears.
Some of the men wore polished whale's teeth round their necks, and
some shell bracelets, but they were not in common use.  A few were
tattooed all over, and others but slightly.  The mode of their
tattooing seemed to be altogether a matter of fancy.  Some had
indulged the most whimsical taste, in having indelibly pricked into
their flesh, fish, birds, and beasts, of all kinds known to them.
Others were tattooed black, even to the inner part of their lips.  It
is an art in high estimation amongst them.  There are men, who pursue
it as a regular business, and are in great favour with their
countrymen, for their skilful performance.  The women tattoo more
tastefully than the men.  Their feet and legs, half-way to the knee,
are usually covered with figures, wrought with great neatness, and
the right hand and arm, half-way to the elbow, is often similarly
ornamented.  Both men and women commonly wear their hair short, and
when instances to the contrary are met with, the persons invariably
have a disgusting appearance, their hair hanging in long and
disagreeable looking matted locks.

The men are finely formed, large, and active; and both men and women
would, in many instances, be considered handsome, were it not for our
fastidious objection to their copper colour.  Their teeth are very
beautiful, and formed a subject of remark to us all, while we were
amongst them.  I do not think that, of all the people that came under
my observation at Nooaheeva, there was a single one with bad teeth.
This is the more remarkable in the men, as they are accustomed all
their lives to strip the husk of the cocoa-nut in the manner I have
described.

A plurality of wives is not admitted amongst them under any
circumstances.  The sexes rarely live together, as man and wife,
until they have arrived at the middle age of life.  When a man wishes
to take a wife, he first obtains the consent of the female, who
solicits that of her friends, which, being obtained, the girl's
father kills a hog, or, if a chief, a number of hogs, and makes a
feast, to which all the friends of both parties are invited.  After
this ceremonial is performed, which is an occasion of great
merriment, the parents of the girl furnish her with a few pieces of
tappa cloth, and she is conducted by her husband to his house.  The
females, although invited to these feasts, are not permitted to
partake of the hogs, roasted for the occasion.  They are tabooed for
the men alone.  Hogs are scarcely ever used by the natives, but upon
the occasion of a death or marriage.  When a chief, or other person
dies, possessing many hogs, a great feast is made.  The only arms,
that are now generally used, are muskets.  Most of the natives, who
have any property, own one or more.  I did not see a single war club
at Nooaheeva, and but few spears.  I met several persons, who had the
scars of musket balls, that they told me were received in battle.
Each of the renegade Englishmen was living with a chief, who thought
there was scarcely any thing that he could not perform.  Besides
supporting them, they gave them all the consequence of chiefs in
their intercourse with the natives, so far as their own authority
would admit of it.  They were highly respected by the natives, and
even John Luxon boasted to me of his superiority over the other
Indians, in speaking English.  I asked John, of what advantage his
speaking English was to him, to which he replied, that it enabled him
to cheat his countrymen.

The whole face of the island of Nooaheeva is high and mountainous.
Every part I visited is composed of volcanic cinders, and evidently
owes its origin to some great convulsion of nature.  Whilst we
remained at Massachusetts' Bay, the weather was mild and pleasant.
We had several heavy showers, which, in one instance, only was
accompanied with a squall of wind.  After these showers it was
delightful to contemplate the beauty of the innumerable little
cascades of water every where falling over the rocks from the tops of
the mountains.  In a few hours, many of them would become less
brilliant, and some would quite disappear.  We found the longitude of
our anchorage by the mean of three chronometers, to be one hundred
and thirty-nine degrees fifty-four minutes and thirty seconds west;
latitude, by a series of observations, eight degrees fifty-seven
minutes forty-five seconds south.

October the 5th, we got under way, and stood out with a light and
baffling wind, tacking very close in with both shores.  At nine,
A.M., we passed the Sentinels, and bore up to the westward with a
moderate breeze from E.S.E.  The islands Rooahooga and Rooapooa, were
plainly in sight.  In clear weather they may be seen at least fifty
miles.  The amiable character of the inhabitants of Nooaheeva, and
the friendly disposition they had evinced towards us upon all
occasions, made us feel regret at leaving them so soon.  The course
that now lay before us, carried us away from all the civilized world;
and the islands in our way affording but little to tempt navigators
to visit them, were known to us only as places, existing on the wide
surface of the ocean, where, with few exceptions, the inhabitants had
never seen the face of a white man.  We could anticipate no other
gratification from our contemplated visit to them, than the
indulgence of our curiosity.  The weather became squally after our
departure from the Marquesas, and continued so for several days,
during which time we were frequently deceived by the clouds assuming
the strongest appearance of land, for which we steered two or three
times, under a full conviction that we had made a discovery.  We
could picture to ourselves, the mountains, and valleys, and bays,
and, to confirm the deception, we frequently saw land birds flying
about us.

At day-light, on the 10th of October, we discovered Caroline Island,
bearing W.S.W., and distant fourteen miles.  We were on the weather
side of it, and a furious surf was every where in sight, breaking
upon a reef some distance from the shore.  We stood along to the
westward, and at nine, A.M., passed a reef, that makes out from the
N.W. end of the island, protecting it to the S.W. from the heavy
easterly swell, and prevailing winds.  Under the lee of the reef, we
stood in, with the hope of finding anchorage, getting frequent casts
of the lead, until, to our great disappointment, it was discovered
that there was deep sea-water within a few feet of a bed of coral,
that stretched off three or four hundred yards from the shore,
farther to the south and west, a high surf was breaking, and this
being the only place where we could land, and, desirous of exploring
the island, we took a small kedge to the coral bank, by which we rode
to the easterly trade winds.  Here we landed without much difficulty,
and made our way to the shore, over the coral, although it was full
of holes, and looked as though it would give way under our feet.  The
holes in the coral-bed were from one to three feet deep, and some of
them had the appearance of communicating with the ocean.  In these
holes, we found an abundance of large and very fine fish, with which
we supplied the crew in great plenty.  They were of several different
kinds, the best of which were the red grouper, and a long fish, of a
dark colour, for which we had no name.  Boarding pikes and boat-hooks
were the only instruments we used for taking them, and by this simple
apparatus alone a frigate's crew might have been supplied in a short
time.  A boat was also sent to fish alongside of the coral bank,
where were myriads of red grouper, of a large size; but the sharks
were so numerous, that, for every fish, we lost two or three hooks.

The tide rises, at Caroline Island, from three to four feet, and, at
low water, the coral-bank was nearly dry.  This was the case when we
landed, and, having remained there several hours, our fishing party
was surprised with a rise of the water, that made it difficult, and
somewhat dangerous for them to retrace their steps to the edge of the
bank, the holes in many places not being perceptible, and the water
in them over their heads.  What made their situation the more
disagreeable was the number of sharks that had come in with the tide,
and which occasionally made a bite at their feet or legs.  One man,
who had a large bunch of fish which he trailed through the water, was
so closely pursued, and fiercely attacked by them, that he was
compelled to take refuge upon a rock that lay in his way, from which
he could not again be prevailed upon to descend, until the boat went
to his relief.  Caroline Island is uninhabited.  It is from five to
eight miles long, and no where in the vicinity of our anchorage more
than from a quarter to half a mile wide.  There are some trees of a
large size upon it, and in most places a thick growth of underwood.
It is every where bounded by a bed of coral, which generally extends
several hundred yards from the shore.  We saw no animals on it, and
no other reptiles than small lizards.  Sea birds were tolerably
numerous, and a few sand snipe were seen.  On the weather side of the
island, we found a cocoa-nut tree, that, to all appearance, had but
recently drifted on shore.  Besides the cocoa-nut tree, we found two
articles of Indian furniture.  That they came from an inhabited
island, there can be no doubt, and it is equally certain that the
island has never been discovered, as there is none laid down upon the
chart, in the direction of the trade winds, from Caroline Island,
nearer than the Society Islands.  The Marquesas are the nearest to
Caroline, of any land known; and they are distant upwards of six
hundred miles, and differ in their bearing a little from the general
direction of the trade winds.  On the cocoa-nut tree there were two
nuts, which had the appearance of having been but a short time in the
water.  We planted them near our anchorage.  Caroline Island is low,
and every where flat, with the exception of a few sand hillocks, that
rise a little above the ordinary level.  It is no where more than
four or five feet above the sea.  We obtained a boat-load of
pepper-grass and pursely, of which there was a great abundance; and
on the 13th, at meridian, unhooked our kedge, and made sail to the
westward.  Our place of landing at Caroline Island, was south
latitude nine degrees fifty-four minutes thirty seconds; west
longitude, one hundred and fifty degrees eighteen seconds.

Previous to taking our departure from the coast of Peru, the
commander of the station had furnished us with a long list of
islands, said to have been recently discovered by whalers, and we
were now in the vicinity of two of them, one of which was laid down
in south latitude eight degrees forty minutes; and west longitude one
hundred and fifty-nine degrees fifty minutes.  The other, in south
latitude, six degrees forty-two minutes; went longitude one hundred
and sixty-six degrees ten minutes.  After our departure from Caroline
Island, we steered for the supposed new discovery, that was nearest
to us, being that in latitude eight degrees forty seconds; and,
having cruised two days in the vicinity, bore away, under a full
conviction that it did not exist, or had been laid down incorrectly.
In our search for the other island, we were equally unsuccessful; and
after running down a degree or two of longitude, in its parallel of
latitude, continued on to the southward and westward, shaping our
course for the Duke of Clarence Island.  Whilst we were looking for
these new discoveries, we were frequently deceived by the same false
appearance of land, that I have noticed soon after our departure from
the Marquesas, and several times we saw land-birds[8] flying about
the vessel.

At four, A.M., on the 29th of October, we discovered the Duke of
Clarence Island ahead, twelve miles from us.  At day-light, the N.W.
end was full in sight, and on each side of it, apparently at a great
distance, the tops of the trees could but just be seen through the
haze of the morning, looking as though they rose from the ocean.  As
we approached nearer, a great many islets rose to view, connected
with each other by a chain of coral reefs.  In sailing round them, we
discovered that they formed a polygon, the sides of which were narrow
strips of land and coral reefs, comprehending within them a lake of
many miles in circumference.  When we first got close in with the
island, this lake, intervening between us and the most distant islets
that rose at the utmost limit of our vision, almost persuaded us, for
a time, that it was an extensive group, instead of one little island
that looked like a speck upon the general chart.  The lake was
everywhere protected against the ocean, and so smooth, that not an
undulation could be seen upon its surface.  The wind was light, the
sea smooth,--the air had the mildness and elasticity of a spring
morning; and these deep green spots, upon the wide waste of ocean,
were truly beautiful.  The islets were low, rising but a few feet
above the water, and all covered with a thick growth of cocoa-nut
trees.  When we run down within a few miles of the shore to the
westward, where, near the beach, were a few huts, two canoes put off,
and pulled for us with great rapidity, and shortly afterwards not
less than twenty were in sight.

All this part of the shore was bounded by a coral reef, upon which
was breaking a heavy surf, and as we wished to anchor, and look for
water, we continued on for the leeward shore.  We were under easy
sail, and the canoes kept way with us, constantly increasing in
number, having, each of them, from four to seven men.  One of them
came very near us, and to save the natives the labour of working at
their paddles, we threw them the end of a rope.  They laid hold of it
very eagerly, but instead of tying it to some part of their canoe, as
we expected they would have done, they hauled up by it as close to
our stern as they could get, and made motions for us to give them
more.  We did so, and they again motioned us to veer to.  This, we
thought unnecessary, as they had already sufficient for the purpose
we intended.  When they found that their solicitations for more were
not heeded, they very deliberately took a sharp instrument of bone or
shell, and cut the rope off, having several fathoms in their canoe.
As soon as they had done this, they took to their paddles, and pulled
away for us with all their might, and were soon again near enough to
have a rope thrown to them, which they called for as loud as they
could, making, at the same time, significant motions.  When they
found that we would not give them the rope again, they paddled up to
our quarter, and one of them, who was a powerful man, came on board,
without seeming to fear us in the least.  Several of the officers
spoke to him, and tried to call his attention; but, without taking
the least notice of any body, he walked straight to the
stern-netting, where he commenced most industriously to throw into
his canoe every thing that he could lay hands on.  The quarter-master
and others, who were near, remonstrated with him, in vain, against
such outrageous conduct.  Their interference seemed only to excite
his indignation, and make him the more active in accomplishing his
design.  When we found that nothing else would prevail with him, I
took a musket that lay near me, and gave him a slight blow with it,
calling at the same time on some of the men, who stood near, to lay
hold of him.  He seized the musket, when I struck him, and would have
taken me overboard with it, but for the timely assistance of those
who were near.  He made his escape before the men could get hold of
him, having succeeded in throwing into his canoe the log-reel and
line, besides a number of other articles, that we could not
conveniently spare.  We would have pursued the canoe, and taken from
it the stolen articles, but they all moved with such rapidity, that
we had no hope of overtaking them, if we made the attempt.  When the
natives in the other canoes had witnessed the success of their
comrades in carrying off their booty, which they were displaying to
those around them, with great delight, they were encouraged to come
near, and make a similar attempt at plunder.  They were somewhat
cautious, however, having witnessed the resistance we made.  The next
theft was that of breaking off one of the rudder-irons of the
waist-boat.  The captain, who was near, prevailed upon the fellow to
give it up, which he did, without the least hesitation; but,
remaining quietly where he was, he seized the opportunity, when the
captain's face was turned from him, and, snatching the piece of iron
out of his hands, jumped overboard, and swam to the nearest canoe.
We were all the time close in with the shore, getting frequent casts
of the deep sea lead, and the moment it was overboard, and the line
was seen by the natives, they made for it in a dozen canoes, and with
instruments of sharp shells, fastened to sticks, endeavoured to cut
it off.  They paid not the slightest attention to our remonstrances
and threats, and the only way in which we could prevent them from
effecting their object, was by hauling the line in as fast as
possible.

After running along the shore for several miles, seeking in vain for
anchorage, we began to examine the reefs, that connected the islets,
with great solicitude, in the hope of finding an opening into the
lake, whore we should be protected from the wind and sea.  Of this,
however, we soon despaired, and passing the south-west point of the
island, a bountiful little bay opened to our view, upon the shore of
which the surf beat less violently than we had seen it elsewhere.
Here we hove to, and sent a boat in shore to look for anchorage.  She
soon returned with a report that, within less than half a cable's
length of the shore, no bottom could be found, with upwards of a
hundred fathoms of line.  We now gave up all intention of anchoring,
and permitted the natives to come alongside, and exchange whatever we
had, that was mutually acceptable to each other.  They had continued
to follow us, and, growing bold with their numbers, frequently threw
on board of the vessel clubs, cocoa-nuts, or whatever they had in
their canoes, that could be used as missiles.  This was accompanied
by such a loud shouting, and they had become so numerous, that the
orders for the ordinary duty of the vessel could not be heard.  Some
of their clubs were so large, as to be capable of inflicting a fatal
blow by the violence with which they were thrown, and our
apprehensions of suffering some evil consequence from this licentious
conduct of our new acquaintances, were soon realised, by one of them
striking the surgeon upon the head.  He was in ill health, and had
just come upon deck to witness the novel spectacle around us, when
the unwelcome salutation was given.  It alarmed us at first for his
safety; but, to our gratification, we discovered that his hat had so
far protected his head, that the wound was not severe.  As soon as
the natives saw the schooner heave to, they closed around us, and as
many as could get alongside, came with whatever they had to offer.
Nearly a hundred canoes were assembled, and in them several hundred
men.  When they saw us hoisting out our boat for the purpose of
sounding, they became alarmed, and took to flight.  No inducement
could prevail upon them to come near us, whilst the boat lay
alongside, and as soon as she shoved off, they took to their paddles,
and retreated as fast as they could; but when they saw that she took
a different direction, and it was not her object to pursue them, they
all turned and followed her.  They gathered around her at a short
distance, apparently afraid to approach nearer, at first making signs
for her to go on shore, where was a numerous group of men, women, and
children, inviting our people to land.  Seeing that the boat would
not go on shore, and after the duty assigned had been accomplished,
that she was returning to the schooner, the natives with one accord
closed more nearly around her, as if to intercept her passage.  The
officer in the boat made threats and signs for them to retire, to
which they paid not the slightest attention.  A canoe came on each
side of the boat, and the natives laid hold of the oars, a man rising
in each canoe at the same time, with a barbed spear, which he held in
the attitude of throwing.  The officer, feeling that his situation
was a very critical one, and thinking that the report of his pocket
pistol would cause them to desist, presented it with a design to fire
ahead of one of the canoes.  It did not go off, but the snap was a
signal sufficient for our men to prepare for their defence, believing
they were exposed to the greatest danger.  They seized their pistols,
with one of which each man was provided, and before the officer could
interfere to prevent them from firing (the noise and confusion
amongst the natives being such, that he could not be heard) one of
the men discharged his piece, and the ball passed through the hand of
one of the natives.  They became alarmed at the extraordinary report
of the pistol, and immediately after it, seeing the blood flow from
the hand of their countryman, discontinued their assault, and retired
with precipitation.  The boat then returned to the schooner
unmolested, the natives flying from her in every direction as she
approached them.  We were apprehensive that the report of the pistol,
and the wounding one of the natives would produce so great a panic
amongst them, as to interrupt our farther intercourse.  But in this
we were agreeably disappointed, for the boat was no sooner hoisted
in, than they came alongside, with as much confidence, as though
nothing of the kind had occurred.  In an hour afterwards, the wounded
man was seen in a canoe, fifty or a hundred yards from us, apparently
afraid to come nearer.  He was distinguished by having his hand bound
up in green leaves.  After making motions to him, and those around
us, and holding up a variety of things for his acceptance, he was at
last prevailed upon to come near us.  When he saw the sentinel, in
the gangway, he stopped, and we in vain held up our presents for him,
until the sentinel was removed.  He then came on board, and suffered
his wound to be examined and dressed, trembling and staring around
him, like one in the greatest terror.  We were gratified to find that
the wound was not so severe as was to have been apprehended, the ball
having passed through the fleshy part of his hand, between the thumb
and forefinger, without breaking any bones, and probably without
inflicting upon him a serious injury.  When his wound was dressed,
and he received a few presents of old iron, &c., to him invaluable,
he left us, and jumped from one canoe to another, with the activity
of a monkey, holding up his treasure, and talking with great
vehemence, apparently delighted with his good fortune.  The natives
had nothing to exchange with us but a few mats, some of which were
finely wrought, cocoa-nuts, bone and shell ornaments, and
fishing-hooks, for which we gave them, in return, pieces of iron
hoops, or old nails.  We witnessed several instances of dishonesty
amongst them, as well as their entire want of confidence in us.
Whenever one of them presented any thing for exchange, he held it
firmly grasped in his hand, until he received his pay with the other;
and if he first obtained the old nail or iron hoop, without the
person, with whom he was trading, getting firmly hold of his mat or
whatever it might be, he was sure to keep both.  Every man carried a
long spear, and some of them a short weapon, slightly curved like a
sword.  Their spears were from eight to twelve feet long, some of
which had one and some two branches near the end.  They were pointed
with the hard bone of a large fish, and, from one to two feet from
the point, covered with rows of shark's teeth, that were immoveably
fixed by a neat moulding of twine passing through the teeth, and
round the spear.  The short weapons were armed in the same manner all
over, except a small part left for the grasp of the hand.  Both were
formidable weapons, and capable of inflicting a mortal wound.  A few
of them wore dry wreaths of cocoa-nut leaves round their brows, which
were the only kind of covering we saw any of them have about their
heads, and as the instances were rare, we thought it probable that
they were chiefs.  The dress for their loins consisted of two pieces,
one of which was composed of a few plaited leaves, next to the skin,
and the other consisted of a mat, from two to three feet wide, and
four long, beautifully fringed at the bottom, and which served, not
only as a pretty ornament, but was useful as a protection against the
flies, which almost everywhere amongst these islands are very
troublesome.  They were strong and robust looking men, of a very dark
copper colour, and most of them, particularly the old men, covered
with scars, that they gave us to understand were occasioned by wounds
from their spears and daggers.  They wore their hair long, and in
disagreeable looking matted locks.  None of them had heavy beards,
and in general but little.  It is not improbable that they pull them
out with fish-scales, as is practised at the Marquesas, and many
others of the South Sea Islands.  This is done by compressing the
beard with the fingers between two large fish-scales, in the manner
of applying a pair of tweezers.  A great many natives, most of them
women and children, had assembled on the shore, opposite to us, where
they remained all day, singing and amusing themselves.  No females
came off in the canoes.

We saw no water, except a small quantity that one or two of the
natives had in cocoa-nut shells, and, much to our regret, from
ignorance of their language, could not inquire where it was to be
obtained.  The land no where rose more than from three to seven feet
above the level of the sea, and as we could not land with safety, we
had no means of ascertaining whether any rivulets existed upon it.
The island seemed to produce nothing, but cocoa-nuts, which must be
the only food of the natives, except when they are so fortunate as to
catch fish.  Towards evening we stood out of the bay, and hove to off
the south-west point, where we sent a party on shore to collect a
quantity of cocoa-nuts, of which there was a dense forest, that
promised an abundant supply.  Our people were no sooner on shore than
they saw the natives approaching them in different directions, armed
with spears and paddles, making signals to each other, and signs, for
the intruders to depart.  Every tree had some peculiar mark, from
whence we concluded, it was considered the property of some
individual.  It was after sun-down, and night was closing in fast
upon our party, who finding, from the determined manner of the
natives, that, whatever they took, must be by violence, gave up the
enterprise, and returned to the beach.  It was fortunate that they
did so, for the tide had risen considerably, and with it the surf had
increased in a dangerous degree.  All, however, got off safe, but
with wet jackets, and at eight, P.M., October the 30th, we hoisted in
the boat, and made sail.

We ran off with a fine breeze, and at half-past three, A.M., made the
Duke of York's Island, directly ahead, and sooner than we expected.
It was not more than three or four miles off; the deep hollow roar of
the surf could be distinctly heard, and its foaming white crest seen
through the mists of the night, as it tumbled on the shore.  We hove
to until morning, when we made sail along the land, towards the south
end of the island.  This island is noted on the chart, as
uninhabited, when discovered by Commodore Byron, in 1791; and it may
be supposed, that we were not a little surprised, on approaching the
southern point, to see two canoes putting off for us.  One of them
came alongside, the other kept at a distance.  The first had but one
man in it, who exchanged a mat for a piece of iron hoop, and returned
immediately to the shore, followed by his consort.  When we got to
the southward of the point, which was the lee side of the island, we
hove to, and sent a boat to look for anchorage.  The shores were
similar to those of Caroline and Clarence Islands,--of coral, and
shelving suddenly into deep sea-water.  It was somewhat better here,
however, for within half a cable's length of the surf, we let go our
anchor in twenty fathoms water.  Although we veered eighty fathoms of
cable, the bottom was so smooth, and its angle of depression so
great, that we drifted off.

We stood in again, and running the vessel close in with the edge of
the surf (the wind blowing off shore) came to in eight fathoms.  In a
few minutes, a native made his appearance on the coral bank, near us,
with his arms full of cocoa-nuts, which he held up, as if for our
acceptance, waving at the same time a green branch, and frequently
jumping about upon the rocks, in a childish, playful manner.  A boat
was sent to bring him off; but when he saw her approaching pretty
near, he threw the nuts in the water towards her, and hastily
retired.  A coral bed, like that at Caroline Island, extended off
fifty or a hundred yards from the shore, which, like that, was
perforated every where with holes, and resembled, in its frail
appearance, ice that has been for a long time exposed to rain.  The
tide was low, and the surf breaking but lightly upon it, we were
enabled to land without difficulty.  At our approach the natives all
ran off, and for a considerable time could not be prevailed upon to
come near us.  After a while their timidity relaxed, and they came
round us, one by one, until we had a dozen of them assembled.  Still
they were very much afraid, starting with every motion we made, and
if we attempted to touch them, they ran from us, and became as shy as
ever.  From our place of landing, we could discover that this island
was similar to the Duke of Clarence, being a narrow chain of little
islets and reefs, of coral formation, covered with bushes and
cocoa-nut trees, and comprehending within the chain a lake of many
miles in circumference.

At our place of landing, the island between the ocean and inland sea,
was not more than two hundred yards wide, and this appeared to be as
wide as any part of the chain that came under our immediate
observation.  In passing over to the borders of the lake, we saw near
the centre of it a large raft, and a number of canoes filled with
people.  On first landing, we were surprised not to see any women or
children, the mystery of which was now explained, as well as the
singular visit we received on first approaching this part of the
island.  The person in the canoe had been sent off as a spy, to
reconnoitre us, and from the report he made, it was thought expedient
to remove the women and children, where we now saw them at a place of
safety.  They did not appear to be more than thirty in number, and
the men on the island did not exceed fifteen.  The men resembled the
inhabitants of Clarence Island, in dress, colour, and every thing,
except that they had a sickly look, and, in strength and activity,
seemed much their inferiors.  Their canoes were also the same.  Like
the inhabitants of the Duke of Clarence Island, they had nothing
amongst them that indicated a visit of white men before.  The
cocoa-nut, except when they catch fish, is their only food.  No
bread-fruit trees were seen growing upon either island.  They
exchanged for iron hoop and old nails, their rude shell ornaments,
mats, cocoa-nuts, and fishing nets.  We witnessed several instances
of dishonesty, practised by them upon us, and each other.  Their
fishing-nets, which were beautifully wrought, they had concealed,
from the apprehension that we would plunder them; but when they had
made acquaintance with us, and found that our disposition towards
them was friendly, persons, to whom the nets did not belong, would
purloin, and bring them to us, in exchange for pieces of iron hoop.
Not long afterwards the owner would discover his net in the
possession of one of our people, and claim it as his property, or
demand a gratuity.  In this way, they made us pay in some instances
three or four times for the same thing, frequently (we began to
suspect) pretending a fraud had been committed upon them, whilst they
themselves were the rogues.  We saw no animals or birds upon the
island, but presented them with a pair of pigs, male and female, with
which they were very much pleased, and before we left them, so far
acquired their confidence, that they came amongst us without fear,
and, in many instances, became troublesome by their familiarity.  The
only water we saw on the island was in a few trunks of cocoa-nut
trees, the stumps of which had been hollowed out, and from whence we
supposed that, in time of drought, if not always, they are supplied
with this important necessary of life.  We regretted the more that we
could not find a sufficient supply here, as the thinly populated
state of the island would admit of sending our parties on shore,
without the least apprehension of hostility from the natives, and
because the landing was such, as to permit the embarkation, without
great labour, or risk of losing boats.

As the Duke of York Island was not inhabited, when discovered by
Commodore Byron, thirty-five years previous to the visit of the
Dolphin, it is reasonable to suppose, from the strong resemblance of
the natives to those of Clarence Island, their dress and canoes being
the same, that they came from thence at no very distant period.  The
distance of these islands from each other, is only about forty miles,
and a canoe, being driven from one in the direction of the other, in
tempestuous weather, would soon be in sight of it.  Towards evening
in returning on board, we found, to our regret, that the tide had
risen two or three feet over the coral bank, and it became difficult
for us to see the holes, some of which, being now filled with water,
were deep enough to be attended with danger.  Besides this, the surf,
as is usual upon these coral banks, had increased with the rising
tide to such a degree, that we found it difficult to embark.  Guided
by our observation, in the morning, however, we got on board safely,
with the exception of some trifling accidents.  The most serious of
which was having the boat bilged against the rocks.

At four, P.M. on the 31st of October, we got under way, and steered
to the westward.  For several days the weather was squally, and the
wind variable, shifting suddenly to all points of the compass, and
blowing at times with great violence.  We experienced strong currents
setting in different directions, which were now a cause of serious
alarm to us, as we should soon be surrounded by reefs and chains of
islands, all low, and to be seen only for a few miles on a clear day.
On the 9th of November, Byron's Island was seen, at 8 P.M. six miles
from us, and soon afterwards the shore was lighted up with a number
of fires.  The surf was beating heavily upon the weather-shore.  We
stood off and on until morning, when, having been driven to leeward
by a strong current, we beat up for the island, passing several
canoes on our way, and having a great many others in different
directions to windward, running down for us.  At meridian, we were
close in with the land, where we beat about for several hours,
looking for anchorage.  Once we tacked, in three fathoms, so close to
the coral bank, where was beating a heavy surf, that we could almost
have jumped upon it.  At 6, P.M. on the tenth, we anchored in ten
fathoms, within less than a cable's length of the surf, and where the
water was so clear, that we could see almost every coral rock at the
bottom.  Besides the rocks, it presented the appearance of a splendid
landscape of trees and copse-wood, ornamented with the most lively
and brilliant colours, which, affected by the swelling of the ocean,
were transformed into a representation of a rich and beautiful
country of mountain and valley.

Whilst we were beating about, canoes were assembling near us, in
great numbers, and as soon as we anchored, came along side, the
people jumping on board without the least hesitation, talking and
hallooing to each other so loud, as almost to deafen us with their
noise.  They had not been long on board, before several of them were
detected in thieving, and when threatened, seemed quite regardless of
our displeasure, although it was expressed in a way calculated to
make them sensible of its disagreeable consequences.  They were all
provided with long shark's-tooth spears, and walked about the deck
with a swaggering, independent air, that seemed to challenge, at
least, an equality.  But few brought any thing else with them but
their spears, which they would not dispose of, and altogether, their
number and appearance was truly formidable.  At sunset, we sent them
off, and they all returned to their respective islets.

The appearance of Byron's Island, differed scarcely in any respect
from that of the Duke of Clarence.  Its dimensions and formation were
perfectly similar; and, like the latter, it was inhabited by an
enterprising and warlike people, whose dress, arms, canoes, and
manner of life, seemed to be identically the same.  The islet abreast
of us was all night illuminated with numerous fires, and the air rung
incessantly with the shouts of hundreds of people.

When the day dawned, the whole ocean was whitened with the little
sails of canoes that were seen coming from every direction, and some
of them as far as the eye could distinguish so small an object.  In
an hour, not less than a hundred of them were alongside, and our deck
was crowded with the natives.  The officer of the watch undertook to
wash off the deck, which he found altogether impracticable: not a
word could be understood for the noise that they made, and when they
were pushed out of the way by our people, they became insolent and
resentful.  We were at length, obliged to resort to some little
violence to clear the decks of the unruly rabble, whose disposition
to thievery and violence, became every moment more difficult to
repress.

An old athletic chief, whom our captain had treated with more than
ordinary attention, suddenly put his arms round him, and embraced him
with such herculean strength, that he was constrained to call on the
men near him for assistance; in a moment, they had a rope around the
old chief's neck, and broke his grasp, and the captain having enough
of Indian courtesy, was well pleased to dismiss them.  They still
remained near us, and as many as were allowed, came alongside.  They
exchanged for pieces of old iron, coarse matting, flying-fish, shell
ornaments, and a few of them disposed of their spears.

One fellow, who evinced an obstinate determination to come alongside,
was ordered off by the sentinel, who pointed his musket at him.  As
soon as the musket was pointed, he raised his spear, and stood in the
attitude of throwing it until the sentinel came to a shoulder, when
he again took to his paddle; the musket was again presented, and the
Indian, with the same promptitude, raised his spear, until the
sentinel, feeling the awkwardness of his situation, reported the
circumstance to an officer.  I went forward, and pointing at the
native a pistol loaded with very fine shot, motioned for him to
retire; upon which, he raised his spear at me, and I discharged the
pistol at his legs, when he dropped his arms and fled with the
greatest precipitation; I afterwards remarked him outside of all the
rest of the canoes, apparently afraid to come nearer the vessel.
After this example, none of them seemed disposed to question the
authority of a sentinel.

The islands we had seen, since our departure from the Marquesas,
resembling each other so much, and none of them affording indications
of water sufficient for our purposes, we began to think seriously,
that we might experience great inconvenience, and perhaps suffering,
before we could procure a supply; we determined, therefore, to let no
opportunity escape us, of examining every island that came in our
way, if it could be done without too much risk.  With a view to this
object, the captain pulled in shore, followed by nearly all the
canoes; but when he arrived at the edge of the surf, which was so
heavy as to make the landing difficult, he remarked that the people
on shore, of whom a great many were assembled, had all armed
themselves with spears and stones.  This hostile appearance, together
with the violence of the surf, made him hesitate about proceeding
further, although the natives, on shore as well as those in canoes,
pressed him to land.  When, finally, he relinquished his object, and
was about to return on board, the people on shore dashed into the
water and swam off, and uniting with those in the canoes, made a
violent attempt to drag the boat into the surf.  The men promptly
repelled them, when they dived to the bottom, and coming up, showered
a volley of stones into the boat, which wounded a few of the crew
slightly, and broke several pieces of the gunwale.  In the midst of
the excitement and confusion that prevailed, a native seized a
pistol, which he struggled violently to carry off, until a musket was
fired, and he was taken into the nearest canoe severely wounded; it
had the effect to disperse the natives, who fled from the boat in
every direction, as she returned to the schooner.  When she was
hoisted in, they came alongside, and some of them got on board.  We
commenced getting underway, and one of the anchors was already up;
the other having hooked to a coral rock, the captain directed the
sentinel forward, to give the musket to him, and repair to his
station.  A native, who had been talking to the captain, embracing a
favourable opportunity, seized the musket, upon which was a fixed
bayonet, and jumping overboard with it, swam towards the shore,
keeping half the time under water.  Muskets were fired at him, but he
bore his booty safely through the surf to the coral bank, where,
although he was still within striking distance, he marched away with
the most perfect composure, until he disappeared in the bushes.

After this bold theft, several boats were prepared to land in search
of water, and, if possible, recover the stolen property.  The captain
took the lead, and landed on the coral bank, with his arms and
ammunition wet and useless, whilst the boat, in returning through the
surf, was thrown upon the rocks, bilged, and before she finally got
off, almost every timber in her broke.  This fatality having attended
his landing, he forbade the other boats to attempt it, choosing
rather to remain in his defenceless situation, surrounded by hostile
natives, to the more serious consequence of losing the remainder of
his boats.

By signals concerted previous to his departure from the vessel, he
directed a fire at intervals from our cannon, in the direction of a
large hut that we supposed belonged to the chief.  A small group of
natives approached him, one of whom, a man advanced in years, came up
with a green branch in his hand; the captain demanded of him by signs
the return of the musket, in reply to which, he addressed some one
near him, who ran off, and in about an hour, brought it without
either lock or bayonet; these were also required, and our demand
repeated occasionally by a discharge of cannon in the direction of
the chiefs hut.  It was not long before the lock was brought, but no
threats could compel them to relinquish the bayonet.  The situation
of the captain and his party was becoming more and more critical with
every moment's delay.  They were on a bank of coral a hundred yards
wide, and small parties of natives, of whom great numbers were
assembled in the bushes, would frequently sally out and throw stones
at them.  They had no other means of protection or defence than what
was afforded by our guns, which were fired whenever the hostile
parties made their appearance.  The hustle of our shot over their
heads, and the fall of cocoa-nut trees, proved to them the
superiority of our arms over theirs, and in a measure, had the
desired effect of keeping them back.  One circumstance, however,
convinced us that they were not yet fully sensible of this
superiority, or if so, that they were intrepid to a degree that might
well alarm us for the safety of our people.

When one of their parties had sallied out, there were two men walking
along the beach, carrying a canoe; a shot that was fired to drive the
sallying party back, struck so near these men, that it threw the sand
and gravel all over them.  They laid the canoe down and looked round
them for a few moments, when they took it up again and walked along,
as they would have done under the most ordinary circumstances.

When the captain became impatient of his confined situation on the
beach, besieged and harrassed as he constantly was by the natives, he
made bold to risk an excursion back upon the island, to show the
natives his disregard for them, and, at the same time, satisfy
himself as to the existence of water.  They did not any where oppose
him or appear in numbers; a few persons were seen behind the trees,
or stealing along through the thickets without any demonstration of
hostility.  His discoveries were few and unimportant; the only place
where he found water, was in an old well, where it was stagnant and
unfit for use.  In the huts that he entered, were stores of dry
cocoa-nuts, and a preparation of dried fish and sea-moss.

We were filled with solicitude for our party when beyond the reach of
our assistance, knowing that they had no other means of safety than
the opinion which might exist among the natives of their
invincibility, and we were highly gratified, after an hour's
watching, to see them returning to their old place of blockade--the
coral bank.

It was now sundown, and the surf had increased so much that we did
not believe it possible for a boat to reach the shore and return in
safety; and to send men there without a prospect of their being
enabled to return, would be but a useless sacrifice of lives; but
here was our people on shore; the natives had followed them on their
return to the beach; and their remaining after dark would probably be
attended with the most serious consequences.  Two men, who were good
swimmers, came forward and volunteered their services to take on
shore a light boat that we had, and although I might have felt
unwilling to exercise authority in the performance of so hazardous a
service, I was happy to accept the generous offer.  They landed in
safety, and the boat being deeply laden with the captain and his
party, they clung with one hand to her quarter, swimming with the
other, until after a severe and most doubtful struggle, she emerged
from the surf, almost filled with water, and was soon afterwards
alongside.  It was thought that if there had been one more breaker to
pass, all would have perished.

The men of Byron's Island are stout, active, and well made.  They
were all naked, and covered with scars.  Some of them wore
skull-caps, of grass, and wreaths of dry cocoa-nuts.  Their ornaments
were rude, and worn by but very few.  They consisted of shells and
beads, made of something that resembled whalebone, worn in long
strings,--by some round the waist, and by others round the neck.
Their hair was long and matted, and their complexion very dark.
Their beard was thin, and curled upon the chin, like that of the
negroes.  A few women came round us in canoes, who looked coarse, and
almost as robust as the men.  They wore round their loins a small mat
about a foot wide, with a fringe at the bottom.  But few of the men
were tattooed, and they very slightly.  Their canoes were ingeniously
wrought, of a great many pieces of light wood, which were laced
together by twine, made from the husk of the cocoa-nut; but they were
so leaky as to keep one man baling constantly.  They were very
narrow, sharp at both ends, and had a small platform of light wood,
on one side, to keep them upright.  They resembled the canoes of the
Duke of York and Clarence islands, but were rather narrower, and made
with better workmanship.  The canoe sails, of all these islands, are
mats of straw or grass.

As soon as the captain returned on board, we got underway, and bade
adieu to Byron's Island, and its inhabitants, whose acquaintance had
been productive of nothing but anxiety and perplexity.  We run off W.
by S., and in three or four hours made Drummond's Island, ahead,
distant three or four leagues.

At daylight, we passed a reef of considerable extent upon the N.E.
end of the island, and ran down upon the west side of it.  When we
had approached the shore, within the distance of a league, canoes
made their appearance in every direction, sailing off to us.  We
stood in, and found anchorage within two cables' length of the bank
of coral, that stretched one or two miles from the shore, and which,
at low water, was almost every where dry.  Here we hove to, having in
sight, along the shore, twenty or thirty large villages, besides
other habitations, that were thickly interspersed amongst the trees
beyond it.  The island, indeed, was swarming with inhabitants, and,
from its extent and forest of cocoa-nut trees, seemed well adapted to
sustain a large population.  It was low, and being quite level,
promised but a poor prospect of affording a supply of water.  We had
not been long hove to, before we were surrounded by from one to two
hundred canoes, having in each of them, with few exceptions, two men
and a woman, the latter of whom was kept constantly employed baling
the water out.  They betrayed a greater degree of timidity than the
natives of any island we had seen before, keeping in their canoes, at
a distance from us, or approaching, with caution and distrust.  At
length some of them got on board, and others hung upon the sides of
the vessel, talking and exchanging their cocoa-nuts, and flying-fish,
for old nails, or pieces of tin.  One of them, an interesting looking
youth, was noticed by one of the seamen, who made him several
presents, and in other respects, treated him very kindly.  The youth
appeared to be sensible of the favour shown him, and expressed his
gratitude by smiles, and by repeatedly patting the sailor on the
shoulder; but, after this dumb show had been going on for some time,
and when his patron's face was turned from him, he snatched his hat
from his head, and jumped overboard with it, making his way as
expeditiously as possible to the nearest canoe.  The canoe took him
in, and pulled off dead to windward of us, until they were out of our
reach, although we threw several shot over their heads, to convince
them of the danger they encountered in such bold adventures.  From
our first stopping place, we ran down a few miles, followed by all
the canoes, which were joined by many more.  Some of the natives
again came on board, and one man, to whom the captain had made
presents, seized upon a fixture of the waist-boat, and abruptly took
his leave.  He was as suddenly saluted with a charge of bird-shot,
from a pistol, but manfully clung to his prize, and bore it off in
triumph to his canoe.  Aided by his companion, he was playing us the
same trick, as the fellow who stole the sailor's hat.  But a few shot
over their heads brought them to, when they lay down in the bottom of
the canoe, until we lowered a boat, and sent it to them.  When they
saw the boat approaching, they took to their paddles, and made an
effort to escape; but, finding that impossible, jumped overboard, and
continued diving from one side of the canoe to the other, until they
were taken.  They trembled excessively, expressing a great deal of
alarm, upon being brought on board, and made several attempts to
escape.  The captain inflicted upon the thief, a punishment, that he
thought might be a useful admonition to the natives, in their future
intercourse with white men, when, with his companion, he jumped
overboard, apparently delighted, in having escaped so well.  The
number and enterprising character of the people, changed our purpose
of attempting to obtain a supply of water, by digging wells.  And,
besides the above objection, it was to be expected that, in the
performance of our duty, at the Mulgrave Islands, it would be
necessary for us to explore the whole group, where, within so great a
compass, our wants could scarcely fail to be supplied.  Accordingly,
in the evening, we made sail, and, after clearing the island, hauled
up to the northward and westward.  The inhabitants of Drummond's and
Byron's Islands, were, in all respects, similar to each other, even
to their canoes and sails, the latter of which was a coarse matting
of grass.

During our passage from Drummond's Island to the Mulgraves, which was
of nine days' duration we had squally weather, and were constantly
affected by violent currents, for which, as they were irregular, no
allowance could be made.  On the second day after our departure from
Drummond's Island, our safety was considerably endangered from this
cause.  Being near a chain of small islands belonging to the
Kingsmill Group, the weather thick and squally, we stretched off,
calculating that, at meridian, on the following day, we should be
thirty miles to the northward of them; but, to our surprise, when at
meridian the weather cleared, and we got our observations, instead of
being thirty miles to the northward, we were as much to the south,
having been carried through them by a current at night.  We were two
or three days in the vicinity of the Mulgraves', laying to at night,
and drifting with the current nearly as much as we advanced through
the day, with light and baffling winds.

On the evening of November, the nineteenth, the welcome hail of
"Land! ho!" was given, and shortly afterwards it was seen from the
deck, two leagues off.  It proved to be the easternmost of the
Mulgraves', for which we run down on the following morning, and
anchored on the lee shore, within less than a cable's length of the
surf, in six fathoms water.

The island was low, of coral formation, and, in all respects,
resembled Caroline, Clarence, York, Byron's, and Drummond's Islands.
The inhabitants were not numerous, and differed from all we had seen
before in dress and manners.  They gave us a most kind and hospitable
reception, freely offered whatever any of us expressed a wish for,
and in all respects acquitted themselves in a manner highly
satisfactory.  Near our landing place we had the satisfaction to find
two or three old wells of water, which, after being cleared out,
would afford us a supply without much labour in getting it off, the
landing being tolerably good.

On the twenty-first and twenty-second of November, we filled our
water-casks, and, with several parties, explored the island.  In our
search we found a whaler's lance, and several pieces of old canvass;
but all our efforts to obtain a knowledge, from whence they came, or
of the persons who brought them, were unavailing.  Some of the
natives came on board, all of whom were neatly ornamented.  They wore
wreaths of flowers round their heads, bracelets and necklaces of
beautiful shells; a large roll of leaves, from one to two inches in
diameter, through slits in their ears, and as a covering for their
loins, two bunches of a kind of grass, that resembled hemp, hanging
below their knees, one bunch being behind, and the other before.
Nothing was stolen by them.  They behaved in a most orderly manner,
looking round the deck inquiringly, or seated themselves, and chatted
familiarly with our people, taking pains to make themselves
understood.  In their look and action they appeared to be lively and
intelligent; but whenever the subject of our visit was pressed upon
them, by pointing to the whaler's lance, they became silent,
pretending to be ignorant of our meaning.  The activity of our
exploring parties, in traversing all parts of the island, and our
close examination of every thing amongst them, that had belonged to
the whites, produced a sensible alarm by the third day; and, besides
the desertion of their habitations by some of them, a large canoe was
missing, that had departed from the island during the night.

Beyond us, to the south and west, was a range of islets, as far as we
could see from the masthead, and having thoroughly explored the
island, where we were anchored, completed our watering, and made such
repairs upon the vessel as were necessary, we determined to proceed
further in that direction.  At our anchorage here the wind several
times changed from blowing off shore, which, as we had not room to
ride in shore of our anchor, made it, upon such occasions, necessary
to get underway, and stand off.  At such times, we remarked, with
particular satisfaction, the advantage we possessed in our vessel,
being schooner rigged, as none but a fore and after could, with the
same facility, have performed the delicate operation of getting
underway, and crawling off, when riding upon a lee shore, within a
few fathoms of the rocks, to have touched which would inevitably have
been attended with shipwreck.

Upon the island, besides cocoa-nut, there were a few bread-fruit
trees, growing in great luxuriance.  The golden yellow fruit, with
which the females of Nooaheeva ornamented their necks, grew here in
the greatest abundance, and was eaten by the natives almost
constantly, who called it bup.  A species of small rat, with a tuft
of hair upon the tail, was very numerous, and so tame, that hundreds
of them were constantly feeding about the huts.

The first land we approached in proceeding to the southward and
westward, was a narrow islet, made up of dry reefs, and verdant
spots, from one to two miles long, and two hundred yards wide.  On
most of the islets grew cocoa-nut, and bread-fruit trees,--the
invariable indication of inhabitants.  They were, however, but thinly
inhabited.  Some of the reefs that connected them were covered with
water sufficiently for the passage of a boat.  The captain landed
upon the eastern extremity, where he found a few people, most of whom
fled at his approach, and such as remained, were so timid, that we
could hardly look upon them as the countrymen and near neighbours of
the natives, who had treated us with so much kindness at our
anchorage.

A small canoe came off, paddled by one man, who ventured on board,
and looked round for a few minutes, when he departed, without seeming
to have had any other object in view than to gratify his curiosity.
We should have suspected him of being a spy, had we not believed
these people too simple, to adopt such an expedient of civilization.
This we, however, afterwards ascertained was the capacity in which he
came, having been sent by the principal chief of all the Mulgrave
Group.

The schooner coasted along the islands, keeping way with the captain,
who continued on to the westward, examining all parts of it.  Beyond,
in what we afterwards ascertained was an inland sea of great extent;
several large sail canoes were discovered coming from a distant
islet.  The captain crossed the reef into the inland sea, where he
found the water smooth, but every where filled with shoals of coral.
Without indicating a wish to examine the canoes, which might have
caused them to put back, he soon afterwards returned on board, and
another boat was sent to continue the examination of the islet, as we
advanced.  The officer prevailed upon some natives, that he met with,
to come near him, and one of them gave him, in return for a present,
some glass beads.  Upon arriving at the western extremity of the
islet, the captain put off for the shore, where he found four large
canoes hauled up on the beach, and those he had seen before, coming
over the inland sea, just in the act of landing.  As we afterwards
ascertained, it was the high chief of the Mulgrave Group, with from
fifty to a hundred of his chiefs and warriors, on a cruise of
observation, to satisfy himself who, and what we were, and what was
the object of our visit to his lonely and unfrequented isle.  None of
the chiefs had any thing to distinguish them, so that we knew not but
that they were here upon some ordinary pursuit, otherwise, their
presence would have excited in us a much more lively interest.  As it
was, we were gratified to have an opportunity of seeing so many of
the natives, with their canoes, which we could examine, for proofs of
the crew of the Globe having landed upon these islands, of which we
were already pretty well satisfied from what we had seen.  The fact
was satisfactorily proved in a few minutes afterwards, by our
discovering upon the platform of their canoes the lids of several
sailors' chests.  On a farther examination, pieces of cloth and
ash-spars were also found.  The natives were watching our every look
and motion, and notwithstanding their pretended apathy and
indifference, could not conceal the intense excitement that our close
examination produced amongst them,  It soon gave rise to an animated
conversation, which was accompanied with angry looks, and the only
satisfaction they gave us, when we pointed to the chest-lids, was a
vacant stare, or a few words of their island language not more
intelligible.  Not far from the beach was a pleasant grove of
cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees, through which was scattered a number
of neat little Indian huts.  One of them, near the shore, was
frequented by a great many of the natives, with whom our people
freely mingled.  It was about ten feet high, and above the ground;
had a small garret, which was screened from observation by a floor of
sticks, thickly interwoven with leaves.  Although most of the huts
had been examined by our men, it was our good or ill fortune, that
this, where so many were constantly assembled, should escape
observation.  We should there have found one of the men, as he
afterwards informed us, for whom we were so anxiously looking; but
the discovery might have been attended with bloodshed, and, perhaps,
fatal consequences to our shore party, than whom the natives were
much more numerous.

William Lay, one of the Globe's crew, had been brought to this islet,
by the chiefs, to be used as circumstances might suggest.  He was
concealed in the garret of the hut, and guarded by a number of old
women, who were directed, the first whisper of noise that he made, to
put him to death, the chiefs having also denounced their heaviest
vengeance upon him, if he should, in any way, disclose the secret of
his being there.  He lay in this unhappy situation for several hours,
listening to the interchange of opinion amongst his countrymen, from
whose conversation he was informed of the character of our vessel,
and the object of her cruise.

Towards sun-down, when our parties were weary with the labour of the
day, they repaired on board for the night, and the natives, getting
into their canoes, took their departure from the islet, and steered
away, over the inland sea, until they were lost in the horizon.  We
stood off and on during the night, and, at nine in the morning,
anchored in nine fathoms water, near our place of landing.  Here
there was a channel into the inland sea, having nearly water enough
for the schooner, and through which we made an unsuccessful attempt
to pass.  Our situation was now becoming very unpleasant.  It was
necessary for us to have parties on shore, exploring the islands, and
the remainder of the crew was quite insufficient to get the vessel
underway,--an expedient indispensable, whenever the wind came on
shore, as the anchorage hardly ever extended more than half a cable's
length from it.  That we might lose nothing from delay or want of
perseverance, however, soon after we came to, an officer, with a
party of eleven men, attended by a boat to take them over the drowned
reefs, was sent to march round, and explore the islets, that formed a
continued chain to the southward and westward of us.  We felt a
conviction, from the conduct of the natives, that they were unwilling
to give us the intelligence we required, and that we must depend
entirely upon our industry and good fortune, for any discovery we
might make.  In the evening we sent a boat to communicate with our
party, but they had advanced so far, that she returned without seeing
any of them.

On the following day, November the twenty-fifth, the weather clear
and pleasant, a boat was sent with refreshments to our exploring
party, who were overtaken at the distance of ten miles from us, just
commencing their morning's march.  The islets, thus far, were narrow,
not averaging a quarter of a mile in breadth, and but thinly
inhabited.  Our party were pleased with the conduct of the natives
they had seen.  They gave them cocoa-nuts, without receiving any
thing in return, and in the evening, when they stopped to repose for
the night, provided them with huts to sleep in.  The officer of the
party, in the course of the day's march, found a mitten, with the
name of Rowland Coffin marked on it, who, by referring to a list of
the Globe's crew, proved to be one of the boys left with the
mutineers.  From the place where the party was found, the extent of
the island could not be seen.  I landed at the settlement where we
were anchored, and found the hats nearly all deserted.  Such of the
natives, as remained, seemed disposed to be very friendly, and
followed me to the beach, where I shot a few sand-snipe, which drew
from them loud shouts of applause, on witnessing the effect of my
musket.  Near the huts I observed a number of small white cranes, one
of which I shot, supposing them to be wild, but afterwards regretted
it very much, on learning that they were domesticated, and held in
great reverence by the natives.

At five in the morning, November the twenty-sixth, a squall arose
from the eastward, which struck the vessel adrift, in the direction
of the trending of the land, and, dragging off the bank, we hove the
anchor up, and stood along shore to the westward.  When we had run
fifteen or twenty miles, we came up with our party, to whom we sent
refreshments, and proceeded on, passing several remarkable points.

At three, P.M., we came to, under a point, by which we were somewhat
protected from the sea, in ten fathoms of water, and about thirty
fathoms from the coral rocks, where there was but three feet.  We
were considerably in advance of our party, whom we had now determined
should march round the whole circle of islets, if information of the
mutineers should not sooner be obtained.  In front of us the islet
was wider than any we had seen elsewhere, and presented a noble
forest of cocoa-nut, interspersed every where with the broad green
leaves of the bread-fruit tree, which indicated a most luxuriant
growth.  Huts were scattered about through the trees, and some close
to the shore, forming a peaceful and romantic scene.  The landing was
good at low water, and practicable at high tide.  As far as we could
see to the westward, the land still continued.

The surgeon, who was very much debilitated, when we sailed from the
coast of Peru, had gradually, and almost imperceptibly, become more
feeble, and for some time past believed that he had a disease of the
liver.  Until within two days of coming to our present anchorage, he
discharged his ordinary duties, in attending the sick, when his mind
began to fail, and it was evident to us that the period of his
existence was near its close.  He lay for a time in a state of
insensibility, receiving the little aid that his friends could afford
him; and at forty-five minutes after four, P.M., November the
twenty-seventh, breathed his last, deeply lamented by all the crew,
to whom he had greatly endeared himself, by kind and assiduous
attentions, even when he was extremely ill, and knew that he was fast
hastening to the close of life.  In the morning, I took a party of
men on shore, and in a grove, at the foot of a wide-spreading
bread-fruit tree, made the narrow bed of our departed messmate.  At
nine, the vessel struck adrift, and dragged off the bank.  When she
again stood in towards the shore, we landed, with as many of the
officers and men as could be spared to bury the doctor's remains,
with the honours of war.  The natives assembled, to the number of
twenty or thirty, and followed us to the grave, watching all our
motions with an expression of great surprise.  They were silent until
the first discharge of musketry, when they burst into loud shouts and
laughter, for which we drove them back, with threats of punishment, a
considerable distance from us, where they afterwards remained quiet.
At the foot and head of the grave we planted seeds of orange, lemon,
and cheramoya, and upon the bread-fruit tree, at the head of it,
carved his name, rank, and the vessel to which he belonged.  Below
this we spiked, firmly upon the tree, a brass plate, with his name,
age, the vessel to which he belonged, and the day of his death
inscribed upon it.  A little to the eastward of the grave we had the
satisfaction to find two springs of excellent water.

On the following morning our party arrived, and, after receiving
refreshment, continued on to the northward and westward.  They
crossed a long reef, that connected the islet abreast of us with
another, at the distance of a few miles, that had the appearance of a
large settlement, from the immense cocoa-nut forests that rose in
that direction.  Soon after crossing the reef, and arriving at the
extreme east end of the islet, where it was narrow and sandy, they
suddenly came to a place that was strewed with several hundreds of
staves of beef and pork barrels, and old pieces of canvass and cloth.
In advancing a little further, they found a skeleton, lightly covered
with sand, and a box, containing a few Spanish dollars.  The natives,
some of whom had been constantly following our party, and
occasionally mingling with them, and administering, as well as they
could to their wants, upon approaching this place disappeared, or
were seen at a distance, skulking through the bushes.  These
discoveries excited the liveliest expectation of soon making others
more satisfactory, and proceeding a mile further, they found an
unoccupied hut, where, night approaching, they encamped.  Early in
the morning they took up their line of march, and had not gone far,
when it was evident that the natives were preparing for hostilities.
Groups of them were frequently seen at a distance, armed with spears
and stones, and holding animated discussions.  They were much more
numerous than our party, who, upon examining their ammunition, found
it was wet, and that the few arms they had, which were no other than
a pistol, for each man, were also wet, and unfit for immediate use.
The officer, therefore, determined to retreat to the place of his
night's encampment, until he could despatch information of his
situation, and ask for a reinforcement and ammunition.  On arriving
where he had spent the night, he found that the hut he had occupied
was gone, and also that a large sail canoe, he left there, had been
taken away.  Not a single person was any where to be seen.  Here he
remained, sending two of his party to the schooner, which was now
several miles from him.  A little after meridian, we received them on
board, and heard, with great interest, the information they gave.
There was no doubt in our minds, that this was the place where the
mutineers, and others of the Globe's crew, had been left,--but where
are they now?--was a question, which naturally occurred to us.  We
had given the natives no cause, to excite them to hostility; but, on
the contrary, had taken every means that suggested itself, to gain
their confidence and esteem.  If they wished to make war upon us,
opportunities had been frequently presented, when our exploring party
might have been assailed by overpowering numbers, with a prospect of
success, of which they had not availed themselves, and here they were
now apparently wavering between peace and war, just at the moment of
our discovering the place where our countrymen had been.  We knew not
how to account for this change in their conduct, but by supposing
that the mutineers were amongst them, and that, from our near
approach, they were becoming alarmed for their safety, and had roused
the natives to war, with the hope of defending themselves by open
combat.  If this supposition were true, and it seemed very probable,
the situation of our party was very critical, and no time was to be
lost in giving them the aid they asked for, and renewing our search
with redoubled activity.  The launch was hoisted out, and fitted with
all possible expedition, and at four, P.M., November twenty-ninth,
sailed with two officers and eleven men, together with the three
belonging to the party, being all that we were willing to spare from
the schooner, as a bold attempt upon her by a large party of the
natives, led on by an enterprising and desperate chief, might have
placed her and the lives of all her crew in the greatest jeopardy.  I
crossed the reef, which was sufficiently overflown by the high tide,
to admit of it, and ran down in the inland sea to the encampment of
our party, where I arrived at eight in the evening, and found them
all safe; but looking for our appearance, with the greatest anxiety.
I allowed the boat's crew to land, and get their supper in company
with those on shore, preparatory to commencing their night's work.
When we were prepared for our departure, and had embarked, I was
greatly chagrined on examining the boat, to find that the shore
party, to whom I had brought fresh arms and ammunition, had, in their
over-anxiety to be well supplied, deprived me of part of mine, and I
was under the necessity of landing, and searching, not only the men,
but even the bushes, before I found them.

Our party had acquired no information since morning, but from the
discoveries that had already been made, we felt satisfied, that on
the following day, we should find other traces of the mutineers.  In
taking my departure, I stretched off with a fine breeze, but it was
blowing directly from the point to which I wished to steer.  I
suffered the men to lay down and refresh themselves with sleep,
whilst midshipman S. and myself steered the boat, and to my regret,
in returning back towards the shore from whence I had started,
discovered that we had lost ground; besides, our boat being clumsy
and badly fitted, we found that we had to contend with a strong
current.  I got the oars out, therefore, and pulled dead to windward
until day-light, when having proceeded about six miles, we again made
sail to the northward and eastward, close haul upon a wind; it
gradually veered, until I could head for an island eight or ten miles
from us, which just appeared above the horizon, and where I designed
to land and give the men breakfast.  When within two or three miles
of the island, I observed a number of canoes leaving places nearer to
me and landing upon it.  Two canoes had put off from thence, and were
standing for me as I was beating with my clumsy boat to weather an
intervening coral reef; they were manned with about twenty natives,
all armed with spears and stones.  When they had approached me pretty
near, and were passing under my lee, I ran alongside to examine them,
for which they gave us a great many cross looks.  As soon as I
suffered them to depart, they immediately returned to the shore from
whence they came, and where I not long afterwards discovered about
twenty canoes that would carry from twenty to forty men each.

The canoes I had boarded, sailed at least three miles to my one, and
I now discovered the impossibility of possessing ourselves of the
mutineers of the Globe, whilst they, or the natives, if friendly, to
them, had the disposal of such fleet vessels, with which to avoid us
whenever our too near approach endangered their safety.  I
determined, therefore, to take possession of all that were now
assembled, even though I should be opposed by the natives, and
reduced to the necessity of measuring our strength with them.

The island was small, producing but few nut trees, and having but a
small number of huts upon it, notwithstanding which, there were
several hundreds of people assembled;--a great crowd, considering the
thinly populated state of the islands.  But as this large assemblage
could only have been brought together from some extraordinary cause,
I determined to land and search their huts, and look round, before I
made so wide a breach with them, as must necessarily result from the
seizure of their canoes.  I was sorry to see, on our coming near
them, that they were sending their women and children towards the
huts, which were at a short distance from the assemblage of natives;
a movement that indicated a want of confidence in us on their part,
or what was still less agreeable to us, a disposition to hostility.

There was some surf on the shore where we were about to land near the
canoes, and that the boat might be the more readily at our disposal
when we should have occasion for her after landing, I dropped an
anchor, and was in the act of veering to through the surf, when, to
my astonishment, a person dressed and looking like a native,
addressed us in our own language.  He was standing upon the beach
thirty or forty yards distant, and half way between us and the
natives, all of whom had seated themselves.  The first words that we
understood, were, "The Indians are going to kill you: don't come on
shore unless you are prepared to fight."  The scene now presented to
us, inspired an indescribable sensation; for, although we were
convinced that this was one of the men we were so anxiously looking
for, his sudden and unexpected appearance, his wild attire, and above
all, his warning, seemed like an illusion of fancy.  His hair was
long, combed up, and tied in a knot on the top of his head; round his
loins, he wore a large mat, finely wrought, and the use of cocoa-nut
oil, and the action of a tropical sun, for nearly two years, had made
his skin almost as dark as that of the natives.  He earnestly
repeated, several times, that we must not land unless we were
prepared to fight, and described the plan the natives had concerted
with him, which was, to prevail upon us to come on shore and seat
ourselves amongst them, when, at a given signal, they would all rise
and knock us on the head with stones.  This statement was probable
enough, but the suspicion that this was one of the mutineers, very
naturally occurred to our minds, with the questions, "Why have we not
found him before? and, why does he not now fly to us for protection,
if he is innocent?"--forgetting that our contemptible numbers
precluded all idea of safety to him, if opposed by the numerous
assemblage of natives by whom he was surrounded.  I asked his name,
which he told me was William Lay, and that he was one of the crew of
the Globe.  His stature and juvenile appearance, answered the
description we had of him.  I told him to come to the boat, but he
said that he was afraid of the natives, who had directed him not to
advance any nearer to us.  I then directed him to run to us and we
would protect him; but he declined, saying, that the natives would
kill him with stones before he could get there.  During all this
time, they thought he was arranging their plan for us to come on
shore, and called out frequently to him to know what we said; to
which, he replied in a way calculated to suit his purpose.

After discharging and re-loading our pistols, with one of which and a
cartridge-box each man was provided, we landed, and marched up to the
place where Lay was standing.  Still doubting whether he were not
more foe than friend, and determined that, under any circumstances,
he should not escape, I received him with my left hand, presenting,
at the same time, a cocked pistol to his breast.  I was not
insensible to the sentiment my harsh reception was calculated to
inspire; but circumstanced as I was, I could not risk every thing in
preference to inflicting a momentary pang, keenly as it might be
felt.  I repeated the question, "Who are you?" to which he replied,
"I am your man," and burst into tears.  I told him then to say to the
natives, that if they rose from their seats, or threw a stone, we
would shoot them all; but the poor fellow, delirious with joy for the
moment, knew not what he said, and, instead of obeying my command,
called out in half English, and half Island language, in broken
sentences, most of which was unintelligible to us; amongst other
things, he exclaimed, "they are going to kill me, they are going to
kill me."  I ordered him to be silent, and then asked, why he told
them we were going to kill him.--Recollecting himself immediately, he
begged my pardon, declaring that he knew not what he was saying.  By
this time, some of the natives had risen, and were becoming very
animated and violent in their conversation and gestures.  Two or
three of them advanced towards us; I pointed my pistol at them, and
made Lay repeat my threat, which had the desired effect on all but
one old man, who, unarmed, advanced in defiance of me.  Lay desired
me to suffer him to approach, which he did, and taking hold of Lay's
hand with both of his, he asked what his countrymen were going to do
with him.  Lay explained to him, in a few words, as clearly as he
could, at which the old man seemed much affected.  This was his
benefactor, the person to whom he was indebted for life; and the poor
fellow seemed not wanting in sensibility or gratitude, at the moment
of their parting.  He embraced him affectionately, told him that he
would see him again before he departed, and wept like a child.  I was
unwilling to remain longer than was absolutely necessary, lest the
natives, when they had recovered from their first surprise, should
conceive a contempt for our small number, and make trial of our
strength, in which I knew they would be much superior to us, if they
were determined and brave, as the first discharge of our pistols
would place us upon an equality with the same number as ourselves.  I
therefore cut short Lay's interview with his friend, and hastened him
to the boat; there he wept for joy, and gave us several proofs of the
agitated state of his mind.  His first impulse, which did great
credit to his heart, was, to inquire if his friends were well, and
then recollecting that it was probable none of us knew them, told us
he belonged to East Saybrook, Connecticut, and asked if any of us
were acquainted in that section of the country.  He several times
repeated the same questions, forgetful that he had asked them before,
and that we had replied in the negative.  When his mind was a little
composed, we made inquiries of him respecting the rest of the Globe's
crew, who had been left on the island; to which he answered, that
they were all dead except Cyrus H. Huzzy, who was on an island a few
miles to windward of us, and now full in sight.  He asked, with an
expression of great solicitude, if we would go for Huzzy, and when I
told him we would, it seemed to afford him not less pleasure than his
own deliverance.  He stated that he and Huzzy both knew that we were
in search of them, and that our vessel was a man of war.  He said
that the chiefs had sent spies on board of the schooner every day
when it was practicable, who had communicated to them the number of
guns we carried, and, within a very few, the number of which the crew
consisted.  They had apprised them of the force and conduct of our
exploring party, descending to the minutest particulars, and even
describing most of the individuals on board.  They had seriously
debated the question of making war upon us several times, and always
consulted Lay and Huzzy as to the propriety of it, and what would
probably be their prospect of success.  They dissuaded them from it,
of course, and filled them with apprehension, by declaring,
repeatedly, that we were invincible, and that there was scarcely any
thing we could not accomplish with our six-pounders; they even made
them believe, trifling as our armament was, that we could sink the
islands with our cannon: so ready is the human mind to receive for
truth what it cannot comprehend, if recommended by superior
intelligence, though it may be at variance with every thing in nature
or reason.

The natives were told to let us go where we pleased, without
molesting us in any way, to give us whatever we asked for, and, at
all times, to show themselves friendly to us.  They had strictly
pursued the course of conduct pointed out to them by the young white
men, in whose superior knowledge of us and our prowess, they placed
every reliance; but still they doubted the probability of
conciliating our friendship in the sequel, and adhered tenaciously to
the idea of accomplishing our destruction in some way, to make their
own security the more certain.  With this object, a variety of plans
were submitted at different times, to Lay and Huzzy, by those amongst
the chiefs esteemed the wisest and bravest, all of which were
discouraged, and the success of such an undertaking in any way, as
frequently declared to be utterly hopeless.

One of their plans was, to get alongside of us at night, unobserved,
and with some of the sharp instruments they had obtained from the
Globe, make a hole in the bottom of the vessel, and sink her; when,
they very truly believed, that those who were not drowned, would be
an easy prey to them, and that the party on shore, unaided by the
schooner, might soon be overcome and destroyed by their superior
numbers.

Another of their plans, and the most plausible one, was, to assemble
secretly all the canoes of the islands, at some point not distant
from us, and approaching under cover of the night, surprise and board
us.

If this last plan had been put into execution, in a dark night, it is
possible that it might have succeeded, as we could hardly have seen
them in time to use our cannon, and the fire of musketry which they
had heard before, would probably not have driven them back when they
had advanced near to us, particularly if, as might be apprehended, at
night, the fire were not directed effectively.  They would not have
found us entirely unprepared; for, under the impression that the
mutineers were still living, and on terms of friendship with the
natives, we were on the lookout for such an attempt being made, as it
seemed to be the only means by which they could possibly escape, and
the plan which would most naturally occur to desperate men in their
situation.

In advancing towards the island where we expected to find Huzzy, Lay
told us that the island where we found him was a favourite place for
fishing at a particular season, when numerous shoals of fish swam
upon its shore.  Our schooner was anchored at the place of residence
of the high chief, who, with those we found assembled upon the small
island, had fled there to avoid us.  The boat's crew being oppressed
with fatigue and hunger, I landed upon a dry reef, after proceeding a
few miles to give them rest and refreshment.  It was painful to
witness Lay's anxiety to depart, who, fearing a messenger might be
despatched to the chief who had Huzzy in custody, kept his eyes fixed
upon us with an anxious, hurrying look, and several times expressed
his fears that the chiefs might have the boldness to attempt his
rescue.  On finishing our frugal repast, we pulled up under an
uninhabited point of Lugoma's Island, (this was the name of Huzzy's
chief,) which, having passed without observation, an ample bay, upon
the shore of which was situated the village of the chief, opened to
our view; and, to our great joy, the only sail canoe in his
possession, was seen hauled up on the beach.  For a few moments, no
one was seen; but when we were in the act of landing, Lugoma and
several old women came walking down to the beach, attracted by the
strange and unexpected appearance of our boat.  They were struck with
the utmost consternation at beholding Lay, who was still in his
native dress; and the old women began calling out, in a loud tone,
demanding of him what he was doing there, and what we wanted.  Before
he had time to reply to them, I got out of the boat, and taking, hold
of Lugoma, and pointing a pistol at him, bade Lay say to him, that
unless Huzzy was brought to me immediately, I would kill him.  He
begged that I would not hurt him, and said Huzzy was near and should
come to me.  The old women, alarmed for the safely of the chief,
instantly ran off, calling aloud for Huzzy.  It was but a few minutes
before he appeared, walking towards us, with his fine yellow hair
hanging in ringlets about his shoulders, and his person quite naked,
with the exception of a piece of blanket, tied round his loins.  When
he had approached sufficiently near, and I said to him, "Well, young
man, do you wish to return to your country?" his eyes filled with
tears as he replied, "Yes, sir; I know of nothing that I have done
for which I should be afraid to go home."

As soon as Lugoma felt relieved from his apparently dangerous
situation, he began to express his solicitude for Huzzy, begging that
I would not hurt him; and when he was assured that no injury was
intended towards his son, as has called Huzzy, entreated me not to
take him away.  The old women united with the chief in the expression
of their wishes, and seemed, by their loud talk and significant
gestures, to insist upon the white man's remaining with them.  The
scene was an interesting one, and we found a picturesque group
assembled on a beautiful lawn, in front of a number of huts,
surrounded by cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees.  Huzzy owed his life
to the native chief; he had been in the condition of a slave to him
for two years.  To him he was indebted for many acts of kindness,
some of which he had requited by his industry in his service, and
some had been cancelled by harsh treatment; yet, still he stood in a
delicate situation towards the chief.  The saving of his life alone,
conferred an obligation upon him, which could scarcely be repaid by
long and faithful services.  The chief evidently appeared to regard
him as his son, and when the moment of our departure arrived, and he
saw we were determined to take our countryman with us, he joined
tears to entreaties, saying he should weep long and bitterly for him.
He told Huzzy that he must come back again, and asked me if I would
bring him.  As the only way in which I could get clear of so strange
a petition, urged with so much feeling, I promised to bring him back
if his mother consented to his return.  With this, he appeared to be
tolerably well satisfied, and we were about returning to the boat,
when Lugoma took Huzzy aside to talk to him privately.  When their
interview was ended, I asked Huzzy what the chief had been saying to
him; to which he replied, that he had been reminding him how
difficult it would be for him to get along with his work without him,
and that he must return as soon as he could, and bring with him some
axes, guns, and cloths, such as his countrymen wore.  "I have
promised to bring them," said he, "when I return, and he is quite
satisfied."  When we were ready to depart, to conciliate the good
will of the female part of Lugoma's family, I presented them with a
variety of trifles, such as finger-rings, glass beads, &c., for
which, in return, they loaded me with a profusion of small mats, and
rude shell ornaments, accompanied with many expressions of
thankfulness and regard.  When I came to take leave of Lugoma, I
presented him with a jack-knife.  With the exception of an axe, I
could have given him nothing more valuable, and it gained for me his
unreserved confidence.  He immediately proposed going with me to the
schooner, and got into the boat with his son, a lad eight years old.
Huzzy took with him a musket and a Bible, the only things he had
saved at the massacre.  The first had been preserved for him by the
chief, who thought that with this in Huzzy's hands, although he had
no powder, he was a match for all his enemies; and the Bible he had
clung to himself, and had kept as the companion of his lonely hours.
The Bible was more an object of curiosity to the natives than any
thing else they found in the possession of the white men: they often
inquired of Huzzy what it was, its use, &c., and his explanations
seemed only to increase their superstition and aversion to it.  They
were never pleased to see him retire to the garret of his little hut,
to read it, as was his custom; and invariably remonstrated with him
against it.  They urged him frequently to destroy it, and when he
refused, they threatened to do it themselves.  As the reason of their
dislike, they said it would bring spirits round the house that would
kill or hurt some of the family.  Huzzy told them, that if they
destroyed it, the Great Spirit would come and kill them all; to which
he was probably indebted for its preservation.

I was walking, back of the huts, over a level green spot, enclosed by
cocoa-nut trees, when Lugoma came to me in great haste, and with a
disturbed look beckoned me to come away, at the same time saying to
Huzzy, that I must not go there: it was a place for the dead; my
presence would disturb them, and bring spirits round his huts; I
indulged his superstition, and walked off.  Lugoma was about thirty
years of age, of moderate stature, square built, with low forehead,
and flat nose; having an expression of countenance that indicated
intelligence and enterprize.  Huzzy gave him the character of being
very passionate, inveterate in his enmities, fierce and determined in
his hostility, but firmly attached to his friends, and possessing a
benevolent heart.  He often became offended with Huzzy, in their
ordinary occupation, and upon such occasions would use violent
language, and sometimes threaten to kill him; but, when his passion
subsided, would be very sorry for what he had said, and soothe Huzzy
by telling him not to be afraid; he would not hurt him.  Once,
however, in working their canoe, when something went wrong, he raised
a paddle and struck Huzzy with it, upon which, the poor fellow, slave
as he was, gave way to his indignant feelings, and was in the act of
repaying the chief's violence with interest, who, seeing that he had
gone too far with the high-spirited white man, and that his life was
menaced, begged him not to strike, declaring that he would never
again raise his hand against him; and the quarrel was amicably
settled by Huzzy's telling him, that if ever he did, he would kill
him.  From this story, I thought there might be some truth in the one
which Huzzy told me was one day related to him by Lugoma's son, the
boy that was in the boat with us.  We had a mulatto lad on board of
the schooner, and at the time our contemplated capture was spoken of
amongst the natives, this little boy told Huzzy that his father was
going to save the life of the mulatto boy, and then kill him as he
was getting too large.  The mulatto boy was a great favourite amongst
the natives, and upon several occasions, quarrels had arisen amongst
the chiefs who should have him, when in the presence of Lay or Huzzy
they were debating the question of our capture.

The day was far advanced when we left Lugoma's Island, and stood
along the shores of the islets to intercept the land party whom we
met at no very great distance, making rapid marches.  We landed to
inform them of our success, and that their labour was at an end, in
which they could not but rejoice with us, although they were
extremely disappointed that they should not themselves have been the
fortunate persons, after all the toil they had experienced in the
search.  We put off and made sail in both our boats, and as the
canoes were all still upon the beach of the island from whence we had
taken Lay, I intended to land and get his musket, which, in the hurry
of our departure, he had forgotten.  No sooner, however, did the
natives see both our boats standing towards them, than they put off
with all their canoes, and bore away directly before the wind.  We
made all sail in chase, but soon perceived that they were leaving us
very fast; and, as night was coming on, we made the experiment of a
few musket shots, fired over their heads, with the hope of bringing
them to.  Instead of answering the desired purpose, it served only to
increase their alarm, and the weather becoming squally, we suffered
them to depart without further pursuit.  I had cause to regret that I
had fired; for from the first discharge, poor Lugoma was in the
greatest agony, for fear we were going to kill him, as well as the
rest of the chiefs.  All the explanations that Lay and Huzzy could
make, and all their assurances of my friendship, could not quiet him.
Several times he would have taken his son and jumped overboard, had
we allowed him to do so.  Whenever I went to the stern of the boat
where he was sitting, he repeated to me again and again that he was
my good friend, and that I must not kill him; my replying that I
would not hurt him, that I was his friend, &c., had not the least
effect; it only caused him again to repeat what he had before told me
of, his being my friend, and that I must not kill him.

The numerous shoals of coral, with the violence of the wind,
rendering it somewhat dangerous to run in the dark, I determined to
come to for the night, as we were yet a long distance from the
schooner.  For this purpose, we stood in towards the place where, on
the preceding night, we had met the exploring party.  Lugoma no
sooner found himself so near the shore, than he became more earnest
than ever in his petition to be permitted to land with his son,
although he was more than twenty miles from his home.  I would have
allowed him to leave us, had I not been apprehensive of the hostility
of his countrymen; I knew not but by his aid in piloting them to our
night's encampment, we might be surprised before morning, and my
resolution to keep him was confirmed, when it was reported to me, by
some omen who had landed from the other boat, that one or more
natives had been seen near us, skulking through the bushes.  We also
determined, not to trust ourselves on shore, but to lay in the boat,
and make an awning of our sails, to screen us from the heavy showers
that were frequently coming over, in the best manner we could.--When
we had finished our repast, we hauled off and anchored, but not to
sleep.  Our awning was but poorly calculated for shelter, and the
showers that constantly succeeded each other, kept us too wet and
cold for rest; besides this, I was frequently reminded of Lugoma's
presence, who made me pay dearly for his detention.  He would lay no
where else than alongside of me, and during the whole night, not more
than ten minutes elapsed at any one time, that he did not move his
hand over my face, and when he thought my attention was sufficiently
awakened, call out to me, "Hitera;" a word that signified he was my
good friend, nor would he suffer me to rest a moment afterwards until
I had replied to him "Hitera."

We were anchored but a short distance from the place where the chief
mutineer of the Globe and his murderous companions had landed--where
he had fallen by their hands, and where they, in their turn, had been
killed by savages.  It was a spot, calculated to revive, in the minds
of Lay and Huzzy, the liveliest recollection of sorrows and
sufferings, that no language could describe; and as we all wished to
hear an account of the mutiny, and of the events that subsequently
transpired, I desired Lay to favour us with the relation.  Lay's
narrative was as follows: "The first that I heard of discontent on
board of the ship, was a few days previous to the mutiny.  I went to
the maintop-mast-head, where I found Comstock; after a few moment's
conversation, he said to me, 'What shall we do, William? we have bad
usage: shall we take the ship, or run away?'  To this I did not make
much of any answer.  I do not now remember what I said; I was quite
inexperienced, it being my first voyage.  In the afternoon, or the
next morning, I heard him talking to some of the men on the
forecastle about running away with him when we arrived at Funning's
Island, for which, I believe, we were then steering.  This, I
suppose, was for the purpose of sounding them, to find out their
disposition, and who would join him in the mutiny.--From what we
heard, we began to think that all was not right, and tried to get the
news aft, but unfortunately did not succeed.  In the afternoon,
before the night on which the mutiny took place, we were on the main
yard furling the mainsail, and I tried then to tell the second mate,
but Paine or Comstock was between us, and I was afraid to say any
thing.  Comstock had, some days previous, taken his cutlass from the
cabin into the forecastle; he was a boat-steerer, and used to eat in
the cabin with the officers.  I knew nothing more about it until
twelve or one o'clock on the night that the mutiny took place; I was
sleeping in the forecastle, when Rowland Coffin came and awoke me,
saying I must come upon deck, they had taken the ship.  I got up and
went aft, where all the crew were mustered on the quarter-deck.  When
Comstock had told us what he had done, and what his regulations were,
he said, that such as would not swear to stick by him, must go on the
other side of the deck.  I did not know how many were engaged in the
mutiny, and believing that we should be killed if we did not swear,
we all swore to stick by Comstock and obey his orders.  He then told
us to haul the third mate up out of the cabin; I was one that had to
take hold of the rope made fast to him.  We laid him in the gangway,
and I thought he was dead; but when Comstock was throwing him
overboard, he clung to the ship with his hands.  Comstock told some
one to bring an axe and cut his hands off, when he let go and went
overboard.  I saw him in the water astern, swimming after the ship
for some time.  We then made sail; Comstock was the only navigator on
board.  We first went to the Kingsmill Group, but did not like to
stop there, as the natives were very numerous and thievish; besides,
Comstock had shot one of them for stealing something; after which, he
was afraid to stay amongst them.  From Drummond's Island, of the
Kingsmill Group, we came directly to the Mulgraves, and made this
part of them, where we anchored and commenced landing the stores.

"The crew of the Globe consisted of between twenty-five and thirty;
but the only persons engaged in the mutiny were Comstock, Paine,
Oliver, and the black steward, (Lilliston, who was one of the
mutineers he did not mention.)  It was midnight, and previous to
descending to the cabin, one of the number was placed as a sentinel
at the cabin door, with an axe, Comstock saying to a young brother
who was at the helm, that if he did not keep the ship in her course,
he would kill him as soon as he came on deck.  Comstock killed the
captain by striking him on the forehead with an axe whilst he was
sleeping, having first locked the mates up in their state-rooms, that
they might not escape.  He then went with the other mutineers, and, I
believe, cut the throats of the first and second mates, and shot the
third mate.  I did not see any but the third mate, and was told that
the others were thrown out of the cabin windows.

"Not many days after the mutiny, the black steward was detected in
the cabin loading a pistol which was forbidden on pain of death; and
on being asked by Comstock what he intended doing with it, he
replied, at first, "Nothing;" but, when questioned more closely, he
said that he had heard Smith and some one else say, they intended to
take the ship.  Smith and the other person named by the steward, were
called up by Comstock, and asked if they had threatened to take the
ship; to which they replied in the negative, insisting that they had
never intimated or intended any thing of the kind.  Comstock declared
that such an offence could not go unpunished, and that the steward
must be tried by a court martial; he thereupon told the steward to
choose one man, and said that he would choose another, and that the
two should sentence the steward to such punishment as the offence
merited.  The two men were accordingly chosen, the steward selecting
Rowland Coffin for his advocate, and Comstock, Paine for his.  After
hearing the evidence, and deliberating for a short time, they found
the steward guilty, and sentenced him to be hung at the yard-arm
until he was dead.  Immediately afterwards, all hands were called to
witness the execution; and the steward was taken forward and given
fourteen seconds to make his peace with God.[9] The foretop-mast
steering sail haulyards were overhauled down and tied round the
steward's neck, and Comstock, after making every body take hold of
the haulyards, held the fourteen second glass in one hand, and his
cutlass in the other.  When the glass was out, he gave the signal for
the people to run away with the haulyards, by striking the ship's
bell with his cutlass, and, in a moment, the criminal was run up to
the yard-arm.

"After the death of the officers, Comstock made us all live in the
cabin with him, where the mutineers used to sing, and carouse, and
tell over the story of the murder, and what they had dreamed.  Paine
and Oliver, who could scarcely ever sleep, spoke with horror of their
dreams, and of ghosts that appeared to them at night; but Comstock
always made light of it, and appeared to exult in what he had done.
He said once, that the captain came to him with his wounded and
bloody head, and showed him what he had done, when he told the
captain to depart and never come again, or he would kill him a second
time.

"After our arrival here, we made a raft of two whale-boats and some
spars, and on the first or second day, landed thirty or forty barrels
of beef and pork, sails, rigging, and a variety of other articles,
when Comstock having pitched a tent on shore, commenced with the
mechanics to work on a whale-boat that he was going to raise upon and
make larger.  Paine was displeased with his doing this so soon, and
sent word to him that he had better discharge the ship, and then work
upon the boats.  This greatly enraged Comstock, who hailed the ship
for a boat, and on her being sent to him, came on board.  There he
and Paine had a violent quarrel, and Paine dared him to take a musket
and go on shore with him and fight it out, which Comstock refused to
do.  When he landed, being afraid that Paine and Oliver would kill
him if he slept in the tent, he went off to pass the night with the
natives; in his absence, Paine and Oliver agreed to shoot him when he
came back; accordingly, on the following morning, he was seen coming
along the beach alone, "and when he had arrived within good gun-shot,
they commenced firing at him; without changing his pace, he continued
to advance, and drawing his cutlass, called out to Paine to stop
firing and he would make peace with him; Paine, however, continued to
fire, and, at the third or fourth discharge, Comstock fell lifeless
upon his face, a ball having pierced his heart.  Fearing that he
might not be quite dead, and perhaps would get up again, Paine ran up
to him with an axe, and cut off the back of his neck.  He was buried
close to the tent, in the manner he had often expressed a wish to be,
with all his clothes on, and his cutlass hung to his side.  Upon
first landing, he had fixed upon a site for a town, and amongst other
public buildings that he contemplated erecting, was a church, for
which he had selected what he considered an eligible situation.

"The natives were all the time so very friendly, that we were not in
the least afraid of them.  A great many of them came to our tent
every day, and some of them were there day and night, eating,
drinking, and sleeping with us.  Paine had a girl that he brought
from another islet, who did not like to stay with us, and would run
away whenever she got an opportunity; he fired muskets at her several
times, and at last, used to keep her by putting her in irons.

A few days after the ship ran away, some of the natives, who had been
at the tent, stole from us a number of tools.  Paine gave four or
five of our people muskets without cartridges, and sent them to the
natives, a great many of whom were assembled not far off, for the
stolen articles.  The natives refused to give them up, and soon began
to throw stones at our people, who, knowing that they had not the
means of resisting, began to retreat; the natives pursued them,
throwing stones, and one of the party, Rowland Jones, either fell or
was knocked down by his pursuers, who came up immediately afterwards
and killed him.  When the party returned to the tent, Paine, who had
taken the command after Comstock's death, ordered all the muskets
brought to him, and locked them up.  We were all in or about the
tent, when a few hours afterwards the natives came there as usual,
but in greater numbers.  After they had been there a little while,
some one remarked, 'I am afraid they are going to kill us; they have
all got spears, or stones, or sticks in their hands.'  Upon this,
Paine said he believed we were all taken, but that he was safe.  The
words were scarcely out of his mouth, when the natives commenced the
massacre, knocking our people on the head with stones and clubs, and
sticking spears in them.  An old man and his wife laid hold of me,
one on each side, and led me a little way off in the bushes, where, I
thought they were going to kill me, but where they only held me fast
and protected me from the violence of several who came and wanted to
kill me.  I saw two of the natives lead Paine off a little way, and
thought they were going to save his life; but they proceeded only a
few yards, when one of them took up a stone and struck him on the
head; he attempted to run, but a second blow brought him down, and
they immediately afterwards killed him.  Oliver, I did not see; but
the natives told me that he ran a short distance, when he was
overtaken and killed in the bushes.  A Sandwich Islander that was
with us, got to the water, and was overtaken and killed there."

"Were there any women at the massacre?"

"Oh, yes, and children too.  The women seemed to take as active a
part as the men.  I saw one old woman run a spear in the back of one
man, who was held by two natives, with a degree of violence that
seemed far beyond her strength.  I thought that all but myself were
killed until the following evening.  I had been taken to the islet
where your schooner is anchored, and where all the chiefs were
assembled, when they brought Huzzy, to show me that there was one
living besides myself.  After an interview of a few hours, Huzzy was
taken away to live with Lugoma, who had saved his life, and I was
taken to live with the old man who had saved mine.  He was so very
poor that I scarcely ever got enough to eat of the coarsest native
food.  I had to labour very hard, although I suffered constantly from
hunger, which soon made me weak and extremely wretched.  At last, the
high chief took compassion upon me, and made me live with him; after
which, I had always plenty to eat, and was at liberty to work or not,
as I pleased.  He was very kind to me in every respect.  They have
always brought Huzzy to me, or taken me to see him once a fortnight,
or once a month, and suffered us to pass the day together."

Here Lay's narrative ended.  Huzzy told us, that during his residence
with Lugoma, his time had been spent principally on the water, going
with him in his canoe, which required two to work it.  Lugoma was a
great fisherman, and distinguished amongst the chiefs for his
industry and enterprising character.  He would always have enough to
eat, if he had to steal it.  When Huzzy would complain to him of the
hard and laborious life that he led, Lugoma would always reply, that
if he would eat he must work.  There seems to be no doubt, that the
natives saved the lives of these young men from no other motive than
that of making them slaves, and availing themselves of the advantage
of their labour.

At the dawn of day, we prepared to depart for the schooner, and in
getting up our anchor, which was a kedge, weighing upwards of a
hundred pounds, we found that it was hooked to a bunch of coral at
the bottom, from which all our efforts failed to move it.  As soon as
Lugoma saw our difficulty, he told his son to go down and clear the
anchor.  The little fellow jumped into the water, which was about
three fathoms deep, and in a few moments came up, making motions for
us to haul away.  He had disengaged the kedge, and we had no further
trouble in getting it up.  It is a universal practice amongst the
natives, whenever they wish to anchor, to take a line from the end of
the canoe, and tie it to a tree of coral at the bottom.

The chief persisted in his desire to leave us, saying he was still
afraid I would kill him; and as I had no object in taking him with me
against his will, I consented to his departure, presenting him with
some seeds, the culture of which I caused to be explained to him, as
also the value of the fruit.  Our return on board was welcomed by
every body.  We had now accomplished the object of our visit, and the
islands were altogether so void of interest, except for their novel
formation, and the singular habits of the natives, that we were well
content to leave them and return to some other place more congenial
to the feelings of civilized men.  Before we left, however, we wished
to see the chiefs, and after representing the impropriety of their
conduct toward the white men who had sought an asylum upon their
islands, point out the course they must in future pursue towards such
as might again visit them.  On the morning of December the first,
none of the chiefs or people residing upon the islet abreast of us
having returned, the mother of the high chief was directed to send
for her son to come back, and bring with him the rest of the chiefs,
without delay.  I made a visit to the chief's village, where I found
but few inhabitants, most of whom were women and children.  It was
situated on the side of the island opposite to us, and bordering upon
the inland sea.  It was not extensive, but a beautiful and romantic
spot; the grove of cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees, through which
were scattered the huts of the natives, ran about a hundred yards
back from the inland sea to a wild thicket that passes through the
centre of the islet, in length two or three hundred yards.  Here I
found the largest canoe that I had yet seen.  It was large enough to
carry fifty men, but being old, leaked so badly, that the high chief
was compelled to leave it behind, in his flight, with all the rest.

Near the high chief's hut, we came to consecrated ground.  It was the
place of burial for the royal dead.  It was but a small space,
comprehended within the circumference of a few yards, and at the head
of each grave stood a cocoa-nut tree, bound round with dry leaves,--a
mark that prohibited the use of the fruit.  We were accompanied by a
son of the high chief, a child about twelve years old, who desired us
not to tread on the graves of his ancestors.  Two graves were pointed
out, as those of chiefs, who had been highly distinguished, beside
which stood the aged trunks of cocoa-nut trees, that indicated the
period of their demise to have been very distant.  At one of the huts
we saw a domestic fowl, which, when I expressed a wish to purchase,
the chief's son, whose name was Ladro, immediately presented me.  We
afterwards saw a number of others running wild in the thickets.  They
were small, and looked like what is called the bantam.  The natives
never eat them, giving, as the reason for it, that they are not
cleanly in their food.  On our return, Lay took me to a place, where,
after the massacre, he had buried a Spanish dollar.  It was still
there, and he took it with him as a memento of his captivity.  We
passed several springs of water, to which the women are banished at a
certain period.

We met with a native, whom Lay knew, and who, assuming the native
dress, went through the violent motions and gestures of a Mulgrave
man, engaged in battle.  It was an indescribable mixture of the
frightful and ludicrous.  I was apprehensive that it would offend the
native: but he laughed with us at the representation, and said, it
was very good.  On the following morning, December the second, we
were disappointed in not seeing the chiefs.  The captain went again
to the high chief's mother, who made some excuse for their not
appearing, and declared, that they would positively be up that night
by moonlight.  He told her to send to them again, and say, if they
were not there on the morrow, he would go after them, and the
consequence might be serious.  The old woman seemed very much alarmed
at hearing such language, and promised a faithful compliance on the
part of her son.  It had the desired effect, as on the following
morning, December the third, the chiefs all presented themselves on
the shore, near our anchorage.  The captain, taking Lay and Huzzy
with him, went on shore to meet them.  They told him, by way of
opening the interview, that they were in his power, and ready to obey
all his commands.  He required of them to restore a whale boat that
belonged to the Globe, a swivel, they had taken from the white men,
and Lay's musket, to all of which they cheerfully assented.  He then
gave them, as a proof of his friendship, some cotton handkerchiefs,
axes, and a variety of other articles, of much more value to them
than those he had taken.  He told them, that white men would never
come there to hurt them, and that they must always be kind and
friendly to them, whenever ships should hereafter visit their island.
That, if other white men should ever be similarly situated to those
they had killed, they must take care of them, and at some future time
they would be rewarded for it.  They promised faithfully to do all
that they were told, and regretted having killed our countrymen.  We
gave them a pair of pigs, male and female, which we told them to take
great care of, and increase the number as much as possible,
forbidding them, on pain of our displeasure, to kill any until we
should again return, which might be at no very distant period,
although it was uncertain when.  The surgeon's grave was made a
sacred spot by the high chief, and every thing about it was to be
held in the same reverence as the burial-place of his forefathers.
The high chief was instructed, through the interpreters, in the
manner of cultivating the fruits and vegetables, the seeds of which
we had given him in great variety.  Some we planted, and all was to
be under his especial care.  The use of the various kinds was
explained to him, as well as their importance to ships, that might
visit his islands, which would give him in return for them, axes, or
whatever else was most valuable to him.

On the fourth of December, I obtained a boat, and set off on a visit
to Lugoma, who, contrary to his promise, had not yet been on board.
I took Huzzy with me, knowing that it would delight the chief to see
him.  We met with a variety of obstacles in our passage, through the
inland sea, and did not arrive at the islet of the chief until the
second day after our departure.  We stood into his bay in the midst
of a heavy shower, notwithstanding which, as soon as he saw us,
himself and son ran down to the shore to meet us, and waded up to the
middle in the water, extending their arms towards us, full of roasted
fish, of which he had taken a large quantity on the preceding day.
Both of them called to Huzzy, with repeated expressions of their
happiness at seeing him, and, in a moment after we struck the shore,
the whole tribe of old women welcomed us, with their joyful
exclamations.  As soon as we were out of the boat, each one in turn
clung round Huzzy's neck, and embraced him in the kindest manner.  In
several different huts were large piles of fish, amounting to some
thousands, which had been roasted to preserve them.  Lugoma offered
at once to accommodate us for the night, saying, he had an abundance
of room in his huts for us to sleep, and plenty of fish for us to
eat.  The weather was squally and wet, which induced me to accept his
offer.  I wished, also, to witness the manner in which he caught fish
in such quantities, and another opportunity might not offer before I
left the islands.

As soon as the shower was over, which lasted for two or three hours,
Lugoma went out, and employed himself busily collecting and breaking
up dry wood, and arranging his ovens of stones, that all might be in
readiness to cook the fish as soon they were taken out of the water.
There was a considerable shoal extending out from the shore, opposite
to his huts, upon which the fish, in their migrations along the
islets came in great numbers.  At the outer edge of this shoal he had
sunk, a few feet below the surface of the water, a long line of
cocoa-nut leaves, which were dry, and of a reddish colour.  One end
of the line of leaves was taken to the shore, and made fast, where
there was a pen, built of stone.  The line was then taken round upon
the shoal semi-circularly, encompassing a considerable portion of it,
and the space between the other end of the line and the shore left
quite open.  When a school of fish is seen, the natives intercept
them, driving them through this open space, and, pressing forward,
finally into the stone pen, from which they are taken with nets.
After all the arrangements were made, Lugoma and another native,
waded out beyond the line of leaves, to watch the schools of fish,
but, unfortunately, he allowed them all to escape; and, as well as
ourselves, seemed to be a good deal disappointed with his bad
success.  What appeared to be most remarkable about this method of
catching fish, is that, after they are inclosed, they will not pass
under the cocoa-nut leaves, although there is a depth of several feet
water between them and the bottom.  Lugoma took me to the place where
he had planted the water-melon seeds, I gave him at the time of our
parting.  He had cleared and mellowed the ground with care,
preparatory to planting the seeds, which were already up, and looked
thrifty.  I bestowed upon him a great deal of praise, and planted a
variety of other seeds, of fruit and vegetables, of which he promised
to have an abundant supply for me, when I should again return.  When
night came, and the hour of repose was at hand, I was perplexed with
the difficulty of providing for our security against surprise or
treachery, without giving Lugoma reason to suppose that we did not
confide in his friendship, which I knew he would infer, from any
particular watchfulness on our part.  I did not believe that we had
reason to apprehend danger from Lugoma or any one else, but as we
were exposed to it, and had the means of security, I was determined
not to run any risk.  Three of the men were sent to sleep in the
boat, anchored off a short distance from the shore, and which Lugoma
was told no one must approach.  The rest were directed to bring their
arms on shore, and keep a lookout through the night, in rotation.
When the arrangement was made, and we had all lain down, except the
man that was standing sentry, Lugoma saw him, and asked, if there was
not room enough for him to lay down.  We answered evasively several
times, with a view to satisfy the uneasiness he expressed, lest he
should be thought wanting in any respect in hospitality; but were at
last obliged to tell him, that the man was keeping watch, to see that
no one came to hurt us.  His mortification was evident, as he
remarked, in reply, that no one would come to his island to hurt us.
We expressed our full confidence in his friendship, giving him the
further information, that it was our custom always to have some one
on the look-out.  Lugoma arranged mats upon the floors of his huts
for us all, and invited me to lay down on one side of him, having his
wife and daughter on the other side.  It blew and rained hard all
night, but the morning was clear and pleasant.  We set off on a visit
to an islet a few miles beyond that of Lugoma.  He offered to go with
us, and dive for a large shell-fish, found there; but as we could not
take him, without incommoding ourselves, we declined his company.
The islet was so uninteresting, as hardly to repay us for the trouble
of going to it.  It was covered with a thick growth of hard red wood,
common to most of the low islands, and wild bup.  We soon took our
departure from it, and returned to Lugoma's islet, at an early hour
of the day.

For the first time, at the Mulgraves', I observed, in one of Lugoma's
huts, a drum, resembling those of Nooaheeva, but of small dimensions.
I supposed it was an instrument of music, and in compliance with my
request, Lugoma readily consented to play on it.  Calling his
daughter to him, he bade her thump upon it with her hands, whilst he
sung, in time with the music, a few short lines, throwing himself in
a variety of attitudes, alternately extending one arm, with great
vigour, and drawing the other to his breast.  Upon inquiring what was
the subject of his song, he told me, through Huzzy, that it was the
massacre of the white men,--a rudeness, I did not expect,--even from
the untutored Lugoma.  I declined any further display of his musical
powers.  When we were preparing to return on board, Lugoma came to me
several times, saying, that I might just as well cut his throat, as
to lake Huzzy away from him.  "I have no one," said he, with a
distressed look, "that is equally capable of assisting me, to work my
canoe, and now, he is going away with his musket, my enemies can come
and kill me."  Finding, at last, that he could not prevail upon us to
leave Huzzy, he said, we must bring him back very soon.  That, if we
were long absent, we should not find him living.  He said, that we
must bring him clothes, like ours; guns and axes; and that we should
share the government of his islet with him, promising to have an
abundant supply for us, of all the fruits and vegetables we had
planted.

When he and the old women had taken an affectionate leave of Huzzy,
he requested me to take two or three females in my boat, with their
baskets of fish, which were intended as a present to the high chief,
and land them upon the islet where he lived.  We consented to do so,
and, after landing them, arrived on board late in the afternoon, the
schooner having run down to the Globe's anchorage, where she was now
lying.

On the following morning Lugoma made his appearance on the beach,
with his little son, having landed with his canoe upon the opposite
side of the narrow islet.  A boat was sent to bring them off.  The
chief stared wildly round, astonished, and wondering at every thing
he saw.  He was very timid, and, notwithstanding our kind reception,
appeared to feel extremely doubtful of his safety.  His confidence
was in a measure gained, however, when we gave him an axe, a piece of
cotton handkerchiefs, and some other trifles; and he left us,
reminding me of my promise to return.  Not long after his departure
we got underway, and ran back to the residence of the chiefs, where,
at ten, A.M., we came to in our old anchorage.

The captain went on shore, and at two, P.M., December the eighth,
returned on board with the high chief, and two others.  They were
shown every thing about the deck, but without awakening much apparent
curiosity.  We then beat to quarters, and let them see what a
formidable appearance we made, arrayed for battle,--an appearance,
truly ridiculous to one accustomed to the imposing effect of a fine
ship of war, and calculated to excite our risibility, notwithstanding
the seeming gravity we assumed for the occasion.  The captain asked
the high chief, if he did not wish to hear one of the cannon fired,
to which he answered evasively, unwilling, I suppose, to acknowledge
his fears, as he had been a great warrior in his time.  The captain
then told him, that he would have one of them fired, if he was not
afraid, which brought the chief to a confession, that he dared not
hear it.  The chiefs brought a number of presents for the Tamon,[10]
as they called the captain, consisting principally of mats.

When they became tired of remaining on board, and expressed a wish to
be sent on shore, we gratified them, and got underway.  The high
chief's son, who had visited me a number of times before, and to whom
I had made presents of trifling value, but important to him, came on
board with his father, and expressed a wish to go with me.  His
father gave his consent, being perfectly willing that he should go;
but as there was great probability an opportunity would never offer
for him to return, I thought it would be cruel to take him from his
native islands, where, in his father's inheritance, he would be so
well provided for.

It was late in the evening when we got underway, at the Mulgraves,
for the last time.  We had surveyed all that part of the islands
intervening between our first anchorage and the Globe's landing, and
now steered to the eastward by the bearings we had previously taken.
Squalls of wind and heavy rain coming on, we soon lost sight of the
land.  The loud roaring of the surf, off the extreme north-eastern
point, as well as the heavy swell that set in immediately afterwards,
apprised us that we had cleared the group.  The land was in sight
from the mast-head, in the morning, when we ran down for the eastern
end of the island, where we had first anchored, and at a convenient
distance run along upon the weather side, taking hearings at the end
of every base of three or four miles.  Near the centre of the
windward part of the group we passed a wide opening into the inland
sea, not far from which was a reef of considerable extent, where a
very high surf was breaking.  Within a short distance of the reef, we
saw the bottom plainly in ten fathoms water.  There was no place on
the weather side of the islands, where it was possible to land with
any degree of safety.  After passing the extreme northern point we
steered off, with the trending of the land W. by S.; and, at
sun-down, were up with the island, from whence I had taken Lay,
having sailed nearly round the group.  Here we hove to for the night.

The group of Mulgrave Islands, as they are called, form a circular
chain of narrow strips of land, which are no where more than half a
mile wide, inclosing within the circle an inland sea, one hundred and
forty miles in circumference, filled with shoals and reefs of coral.
It is every where bounded on the sea-side, by a bank of coral, that
protects it from the violence of the ocean.  This bank generally
extends but a short distance from the shore, when it goes off into
unfathomable water.  At the chief's islet, where we buried the
surgeon, it was wider than at any other place about the group, being
upwards of a cable's length, which, for a low coral island, may be
considered good anchorage.  The whole circle is broken alternately
into clumps, a few feet above the water, of level and low coral
reefs, some of which are above high-water mark, and some sufficiently
low to afford a passage for boats.  The clumps vary in length, but
none of them are more than two miles long, without an interruption of
a dry or drowned reef.  They are covered with a thick growth of
bushes, and trees of small size, except where the cocoa-nut and
bread-fruit trees rear their tall heads, and wide-spreading branches.
Wherever these grow, the underwood disappears, and the place has the
appearance of an old forest, cleared for a pleasure ground, where a
few trees have been left standing, for the advantage of their shade.

The bread-fruit tree is of two kinds.  One is the same as that, which
is found at the Society, Sandwich, and many other islands of the
Pacific.  This has no seed, and can only be produced by cuttings from
the tree, or shoots, that spring up from the roots.  The other kind
is seminal, and very much superior to the first.  It was not the
bread-fruit season, when we were at the Mulgraves, and much to our
regret, we could not obtain any of the seeds of this rare and
valuable plant.  This tree, in general, attains a size considerably
larger than that of the common bread-fruit.  The leaf of the
bread-fruit tree strongly resembles that of the fig, and any one, who
has seen the latter, would immediately recognise it, by the
resemblance, and the fine rich foliage it bears, when growing
luxuriantly.  This is by far the most important production of the
Mulgrave Islands.  When the fruit is not blasted, as sometimes
happens, there is a great plenty for the inhabitants.  It lasts,
however, only for a few weeks; and it is to be presumed, that the
natives have no way of preserving it, in a dried or baked state, as
is practised with many of the South Sea Islanders, none having been
seen by us during our stay.  The cocoa-nut tree is next in value to
the natives.  Of this food there is an ample supply, unless the fruit
is blasted.  When the bread-fruit and cocoa-nut, both fail in the
same year, the natives experience great distress, and are reduced to
the necessity of living upon a fruit, they call bup.  It is commonly
used by the poorest people, and in small quantities by the chiefs at
all times.  It grows upon almost all the islands in the West Pacific;
but, when wild, is much inferior to that growing on the trees, which
have a clear open space around them.

Lay lived upon the wild bup for a considerable time after the
massacre, when residing with the poor old man, who saved his life,
and before the high chief took compassion on him.  It has a sweet
taste, like the juice of a green corn-stalk.  Bread-fruit,
cocoa-nuts, and bup, is the only food of the inhabitants of the
Mulgrave Islands, except at the season of the year, when great
numbers of fish are taken.  The industrious and enterprising have an
abundant supply at that period; but it is only whilst the season
lasts, as they are not in the practice of preserving them.  The
bup-tree is the most remarkable of all the vegetable productions of
the Mulgrave Islands.  To shipwrecked seamen, it might be the means
of sustaining life, when no other food could be found, and, as it is
a never-failing resource, it ought to be generally known amongst
those, who navigate the Pacific Ocean.  The tree generally grows from
twenty to thirty feet high,--sometimes singly, but more frequently in
small clusters.  The diameter of the body rarely exceeds six inches.
It has a hard thick bark, but the wood is spongy, like that of the
cocoa-nut tree.  It stands on from half a dozen to a dozen roots or
prongs, by which it is propped up two or three feet from the ground.
The fruit is an exact resemblance of a pine-apple.  Its smell, when
ripe, is at first agreeable, but, so powerful, that it soon becomes
offensive.  The taste of the ripe fruit has much the same
effect--agreeable at first, like a mellow, sweet apple, but cloying
and nauseous to the stomach, when taken in any quantity.  The ripe
fruit is never eaten by the natives of the Mulgraves.  When green, it
is not considered in a state to be eaten, until a beard, which grows
out alongside of the stem, has acquired a length of four or five
inches.  It may then be taken from the tree, and eaten raw, or
roasted between hot stones.  The soft part of the seeds (if I may so
call them) is alone palatable, the other part being hard and tough.
The manner of eating it is, to twist the soft part off with the
teeth, whereby the juice is expressed.  There was but little about
the islands that would excite the interest of either the botanist or
naturalist.  We saw but few flowers or plants.  The islands were
swarming with a species of small rat, that had a tuft of hair upon
its tail.  The natives spoke of them as being very troublesome.  By
throwing a small quantity of food upon the ground, near one of the
huts, dozens of them could be collected together in a few moments.

When one of the natives is sick, the friends collect at the hut,
where he is lying, and chant over him, to appease the offended spirit
that has afflicted him.  The same prescription is given for all
diseases, which is a tea, made from an herb found upon the island.
If death takes place, the friends of the deceased assemble, and mourn
over the body, keeping it until it becomes very offensive.
Frequently, in the midst of their most bitter mourning and
lamentation, some of the mourners will intentionally say or do
something calculated to excite mirth, when they all burst out into
immoderate laughter, as if their mourning were the affectation of
children, and as soon as the humorous excitement has passed over,
again relapse into their mournful strain of howling and chaunting.
When the body can be kept no longer, and the day of interment
arrives, the grave is dug, and the corpse taken upon sticks, and
carried to it by the friends of the deceased, followed by a large
concourse, who move along without order, and some one occasionally
breaks in upon their solemnity by a humorous trick, which gives rise
to others, and sets them all laughing.  This is soon again succeeded
by mourning.  The body is lowered into the grave, and covered up,
when a little canoe, with a sail to it, and laden with small pieces
of cocoa-nut or other food, having been previously prepared, is taken
to the sea-shore on the leeward part of the island, and sent off,
with a fair wind, to bear far away from the island the spirit of the
deceased, that it may not afterwards disturb the living.  This
ceremony is considered indispensably necessary, and is never
neglected.  At the head of the grave a cocoa-nut is planted, the tree
that springs from which, is held sacred, and its fruits never eaten,
in times of the greatest famine.  Their burial places are usually a
short distance back of the houses, and the females are strictly
prohibited from going to them.

Their marriages are conducted with but little ceremony.  If a man
fancies a female for his wife, he makes the proposal to her, which,
if agreeable, he applies to her friends.  They meet, and hold a
consultation, as to the propriety of the match, and decide whether it
shall take place.  If the man's suit is denied, nothing more is said
on the subject.  When united, they are said to be very faithful, and
jealous of each other's chastity.  Lay or Huzzy related an
occurrence, that took place during their residence on the islands,
which shows how keenly a sense of injury is felt by them, and that
jealousy sometimes inspires them with the most ferocious and deadly
revenge.  A young man had taken a young woman for a wife, whom he
supposed to be a virgin.  In a very short time after she went to live
with him, however, it was evident that she was pregnant, and before
the period which nature has prescribed had elapsed, gave birth to a
child.  The indignant husband took the infant from its mother's arms,
and in her presence dashed its head upon a stone in front of his hut.
It was an act for which, under other circumstances, he would have
suffered death, by a custom of the islands, forbidding the destroying
of human life; and, as the female was of superior rank to the man,
being the daughter of a chief, it was believed that he would be
punished.  Her friends were loud in their calls for justice upon the
offender, until a council of the chiefs was called, and the matter
brought before them.

After an investigation, the chiefs were satisfied, that the woman had
grossly imposed upon her husband, whom they suffered to depart
without censure.  It is permitted to the men to have as many wives as
they can get; but as food is very scarce, and they find it difficult
to support one, there are few, even of the chiefs, who have more.
The high chief was the only exception to this remark at the time of
our visit.  He had six, one of whom was a particular favourite.

Latuano, the high chief of the Mulgraves, was called the greatest
warrior that the islands had produced for a long time.  He told us
that in one of his wars he was driven from his islands, and remained
(I think) fourteen days at sea in his canoe, most of the time out of
sight of land.  He steered for an island, which, according to the
tradition of his countrymen, lay to the west of the Mulgraves, and,
after a great deal of suffering, arrived there in safety.  The high
chief of this isle (south Pedder's Island) received him with
kindness, and after he had visited thirteen different islands of the
group,[11] sent him back to the Mulgraves with a fleet of canoes, and
a great many men.  He arrived there in safety, conquered his enemies,
and at the time of our visit was tributary to the chief of Pedder's
Island, who had given him a daughter or grand-daughter in marriage.
They told us that every few years the chief of Pedder's Island, who
is very powerful and very wise, sends a fleet of canoes to the
Mulgraves, for tribute.  Lay and Huzzy were to have been sent to him,
as also the Globe's whaleboat and swivel.  I was particularly struck
with Latuanos' strong resemblance to General Bolivar.  His stature
was about the same, and his face bore the same marks of care and
serious thought, when his attention was not awakened to any
particular thing; and, when animated by conversation, the same vivid
expression beamed from his fine features, and sparkling black eyes.
I could not but think, when I was looking at him, that if he and
General Bolivar could be placed near to each other, similarly
dressed, it would be difficult to tell which was the Indian chief,
and which the patriot hero.

The high chief is absolute in his authority, but, in the
administration of justice, particularly where the life of an
individual is concerned, he is influenced in passing judgment by the
opinion of the chiefs of most consequence.[12]  Like all other men,
whether civilized or uncivilized, they have different grades of rank
in their society, from the high chief down to the farthest remove of
relationship to royalty.  The different islets that are inhabited,
are partitioned off to different chiefs, who acknowledge their
subordination to the high chief, by sending him a part of whatever
grows, or is taken within the limits of their government.  They send
him a portion of their cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, and bup, and of the
fish or birds, that may be caught by themselves or any of their
people.  The high chief requires this for the support of his numerous
family.  Besides his wives and children, he usually keeps a large
number of men about him, who go in his canoe, and perform other
essential duties in his service.  Several of the principal chiefs are
also in attendance, and live with him constantly.  In his family,
there is no ceremony, to remind the common people of their lowly
condition.  They all eat, drink, and sleep alike.  In dress, there is
nothing to distinguish the chiefs from the common people, except that
the former sometimes wear a mat that comes down to the knee, of
straw, and finely wrought.  This, however, I believe, is only worn
upon particular occasions.

The men wear bunches of grass hanging down before and behind, such as
I have described at our first anchorage, being about the size and
appearance of a horse's tail.  Those in most common use, were of a
reddish colour; but a few of them were white.  The bark of which they
are made is taken from a long running vine.  The boys go quite naked
until they are ten or twelve years old, when a dress similar to that
of the men is put on them.  Their ornaments consist of shell
bracelets and necklaces, and sometimes a string of thorn is put round
the head; flowers, when they can be obtained, are often used instead
of shells.  Many of the men, and some of the women have large slits
in their ears, through which they put rolls of leaves from one to two
inches in diameter.  The women wear beautiful white straw mats, of
elegant workmanship, about two feet square, and sometimes larger,
bordered round the edge, from one to two inches, with black diamond
figures, worked in with coloured straw, died with the husk of the
cocoa-nut.  They usually wear two of these mats, one of which is
behind and the other before, tied round the waist with a beautiful
round cord of braided straw.  The ornaments of the women are the same
as those worn by the men.  They have no manner of worship.  They
acknowledge the existence of a Great Spirit whom they call Kenneet,
and who, they say, can make them sick and kill them: they look for
nothing good from him, and, so far as I could learn, have no idea of
rewards and punishments after death.  They have a sort of conjurers
amongst them, for whose art they entertain great reverence, and in
whom they place a strict reliance.  To them they apply in all cases
of great emergency.  Their art consists in having a large bunch of
straws, which they fold double and tie in a great many different
ways; if, after the straws are thus folded, doubled, and tied, they
can be drawn out without being in any manner entangled the one with
the other, the omen is propitious; but otherwise, the contemplated
undertaking is relinquished.  On the following morning it is again
resorted to, and so on until success is promised.  It must never be
tried but in the morning, and only once on the same day.  The morning
I took Lay from the natives, the chiefs had recourse to this art
before they would allow him to speak to us; they were promised good
fortune, otherwise he would have been concealed from us.  He who
cannot perform the mysteries of this art, is not allowed to drink
from the same cup with him who can.

They had a great aversion to hearing us whistle, particularly in
their houses, and would invariably run up to any of our people when
they were whistling, and with a fearful look, beg them to stop;
saying, it would bring spirits about the house that would make them
sick and kill them.  If one of them has wronged another who has died,
or if they were enemies, he never eats without throwing away a
portion[13] of his food to appease the ghost of the departed.

At a meeting we had with the chiefs on shore, the captain remarked an
old man in the circle, whose name and character he asked of Lay or
Huzzy; being replied to, he said, in a stern manner that he did not
like his face, meaning that he looked like a bad man.  The old
fellow, seeing himself the subject of conversation, asked the
interpreter what the captain was saying about him.  On being told,
his countenance expressed the utmost dismay, and in a day or two
afterwards, he died.  There was not a native on the islands with whom
Lay or Huzzy conversed, that did not believe the captain's dislike
killed the old man.  They seemed to entertain the most singular
notions of the captain's supernatural powers.

For the purpose of ascertaining what idea the high chief entertained
of a God, the captain asked him several questions, to which his
answers were vague and unsatisfactory.  He thought he had conceived
the right one, when he asked the chief who he thought made it
thunder.  After a moment's hesitation, he looked at the captain and
replied, "I suppose you can make it thunder."  This was as
satisfactory as any thing he could be made to express.  Thunder he
believed was produced by the agency of a being superior to himself,
and the captain he conceived to be infinitely his superior.

Not long after the massacre of the white men, the natives were
visited by a disease that caused their limbs to swell, and produced
great distress amongst them; it was before unknown, and they ascribed
it to Lay and Huzzy, who, they believed, had the power to afflict
them in that manner, and had done it to be revenged for the death of
their countrymen.  They finally charged them with it, and threatened
to kill them, which, in all probability they would have done, but for
their superstitious fear of some greater evil.

Their huts are not, generally, more than ten by fifteen feet, and
from ten to fifteen feet high.  They are divided into two apartments,
upper and lower; the lower is open all round, without any thatching;
the floor is raised a little above the adjacent ground, and covered
over with small pieces of the cleanest and whitest coral that can be
found.  The rafters and small sticks that are laid across them for
the thatching, are secured by twine made from the outer husk of
cocoa-nut, with which the thatching is also secured.  The thatch is
the leaves of palm or cocoa-nut.  The ceiling of the lower room is
generally so low, that one must bend almost double to get into it,
and if you remain, it must be in a lying or sitting posture.  The
garret has a floor of sticks thickly interwoven with leaves; it is
higher than the ground floor, and has an air of comfort.  The natives
keep their provisions in it, and all such things as they would
preserve from the rats.  They also sleep there in wet weather.  In
the floor, a hole is left just large enough for a person to crawl
through, and so far from the sides that the rats cannot get to it.

Their canoes display the greatest ingenuity, and I have no doubt,
that in a civilized country, they would be ranked amongst the rarest
specimens of human industry, unassisted but by the rudest implements.
The model is most singular, and differs from all that I have ever
seen in use, either in the European or American world.  Its
construction is so remarkable, and in many respects so inconvenient,
that it seems improbable the model should have had its origin in any
other cause than the want of suitable timber for a more perfect
structure.  The depth of a Mulgrave canoe, of common size, is four or
five feet; its length from thirty to forty.  It is so narrow that a
man can scarcely stand in it; perfectly flat on one side, and round
on the other.  It is sharp at both ends.  The mast is from twelve to
twenty-five feet long, and the sail, (a straw mat,) which is bent to
a small yard, is very large in proportion to the canoe.  They always
sail on the flat side, and have the mast a little inclined forward.
It is supported by shrouds and a guy at either end, which is used at
pleasure to give the mast its proper inclination.  In beating to
windward, instead of tacking as we do, and presenting the other side
of the boat to the wind, they bring the other end of the boat to it,
making that the bow which was before the stern.  Amidships there are
several light spars extending about ten feet over the round side, and
four over the other.  Across these are smaller sticks, which are
securely lashed above and below, and over them is made a platform.
Upon that part of it which extends over the flat side, they have a
small thatched cabin, in which they store whatever they wish to
preserve from getting wet, or would conceal from observation.  The
other part of the platform is intended to keep the canoe from being
upset; and when hard pressed with carrying sail, several men will
sometimes get on it, to keep the canoe upright.  They move through
the water with astonishing velocity, and, in turning to windward, no
boats can surpass them.  Although the natives had no other tools to
work with than what they made of shells, previous to the visit of the
Globe, every article of their workmanship is neat, and as highly
polished as though it had been wrought with steel.  In the
construction of their canoes, the keel-stern and sternpost are solid
pieces of hard wood, upon which they are built up of small pieces
laid one above the other, and closely seized on with the line of
cocoa-husk.  The seams are neither caulked or payed, and the canoe
consequently leaks so much as to require one man to bail constantly.
The steerage is very laborious; they have no rudder, and the only
means by which they steer, is with a long flat paddle held in the
hands of the helmsman.  To steer a large canoe in blowing weather,
requires the utmost strength of six or eight men.  Upon the
outriggers or platforms, and along the masts, they arrange their
spears, which are always taken with them, even upon the most ordinary
occasions.  The canoes are also always ballasted with a quantity of
round stones, weighing about a pound each, which forms a material
part of their armament.  Our carpenter was several days at work upon
the canoe of the high chief, caulking and graving her.  When he had
completed his work, the high chief, after expressing his
gratification, earnestly solicited the captain to leave him on the
island; he said that he would always provide him an abundance to eat,
and that no one should ever hurt him.  This, according to the high
chief's standard, was the most ample reward that he could promise for
useful services.

The people of the Mulgraves are in general of moderate stature, and
well made.  Their complexion is not so dark as that of the natives of
the Duke of Clarence and Byron's Island, and their features more
comely.  They appeared to us like a different race of men.  They have
not the flat noses and thick lips of the low islanders, except that
two or three persons we saw would come under that description.  Their
hair is long and invariably combed out with great neatness, and tied
on the top of their heads.  Their deportment is modest and manly, and
after one becomes a little accustomed to their dress, they have
always an air of gentility.  They have a fine majestic walk, which
one would hardly suppose, when it is considered that their way is
everywhere paved with sharp coral.

After we had given them the pigs, it was amusing to see with what
apparent pleasure they carried them about in their arms, nursing them
with as much care and tenderness, as though they had been children,
whilst the pigs, unused to such treatment, were kicking and
scratching the naked bodies of the poor natives, and squealing away
most lustily.  We had to interfere to keep the pigs from being killed
with kindness, and finally prevailed upon the chief to forbid their
being petted in this style.  It is not improbable that, in a few
years, the whalers that may have occasion to cruise, in the vicinity
of these islands, will find an abundant supply.  It is hoped,
however, that until they become numerous, no navigator who may chance
to touch there, will encourage the natives to diminish their number.

At 4, A.M., on the 9th of December, we took our departure from the
Mulgrave Islands, and stood to the westward.  At daylight, we had
lost sight of the group, and at 10, A.M., made South Pedder's Island.
Having stood a little too far to the southward, we were all day
beating up to weather the N.E. point, where, at sun-down, we hove to
in the hope that on the following morning we should be able to effect
a landing, and get a sight of the great chief, so celebrated amongst
the people we had just left.  On the 11th of December, having passed
all the early part of the day searching in vain for anchorage, we
hove to, a little after meridian, opposite to a considerable bay,
upon the shore of which was a native village, and large forests of
cocoa-nut trees.  The captain took Huzzy in the gig, and, followed by
another boat, pulled in over a wide coral bank to the village.  A few
people were attracted to the shore by the appearance of our boats.
They immediately conducted the captain to the chief, who was seated
on a mat in the open air, in front of his hut.  He seemed but little
moved at the unexpected appearance of his visitors.  He was a very
old man, and had a long white beard that came down upon his breast.
The natives stood round in respectful silence, as the old chief
addressed the captain, whom he soon distinguished as the person of
highest rank amongst the strangers.  He spoke the same language as
the inhabitants of the Mulgraves, and Huzzy was forbidden to let him
know that he was understood, but to listen attentively to what he was
saying to those around him.  For a time his intercourse with the
captain was carried on by signs, and Huzzy overheard him say to the
natives, standing by, "Don't disturb them yet.  Wait until to-morrow,
and see what they are going to do.  They will look round here to see
what they can find, trade a little, and go on board of their vessel,
to sleep, and to-morrow they will come again."  When the captain told
Huzzy to address some questions to the chief in his own language, it
seemed to operate as quickly as an electric shock upon the natives,
who stared wildly around at him, and at each other, with looks of the
utmost astonishment.  The chief partially lost his gravity in the
sensation it produced, being not less surprised than his subjects.
He asked Huzzy, before answering the question put to him, where he
had learned to speak the language of Pedder's Island.  Huzzy replied,
that he had learned it at the Mulgrave Islands, where he had been for
two years.  The old chief said, that he had been informed of two
white men being there, and was then fitting out a fleet of canoes to
send after them.  He expressed a great deal of disappointment, that
we had taken them away, saying, he would have had them brought to his
own island, and treated them well.  He asked, if Lay was also on
board of the vessel.  The captain had taken on shore a present for
the chief, and a number of trifles, that he thought might be
acceptable to the natives.  Our people endeavoured to obtain a
quantity of cocoa-nuts and bup, of which there was the greatest
abundance; but the natives parted with their fruit very reluctantly.
When finally the captain addressed the chief, upon the subject of
giving or selling us a supply, he said,--No! that his island was
thickly inhabited, and produced no more food than was necessary for
his people.  That, if we were in want of cocoa-nuts and bup, there
were other islands, not far to the westward, where there was an
abundance, and but few people, and he advised our going there as
speedily as possible.  Upon being asked, if he had ever seen white
men before, he replied,--Yes; that a long time ago there came a large
vessel, in which there were white men, who brought their forge on
shore, where they remained for several days.  This, he said, was the
only instance.  The young women were all sent away, and concealed in
the thickets, or upon a distant part of the island, where they
remained during the whole day.

Amongst other presents made by the captain to the high chief, was a
battle-axe,--to him an article of the greatest value.  He received
it, however, with reluctance, expressing his regret, that he had it
not in his power to make a suitable return for so valuable a
consideration, accompanying his apology with a small present of mats,
cocoa-nuts, and a preparation of the ripe bup, that had an agreeable
sweet taste.  It was after dark when our party left the village, and
went to the beach to embark.  They had already left the shore a few
yards, when some natives came running down, and called for them to
return, saying, the chief had another mat for the captain.  They
landed, when they were told, that the mat was in the village, and
that Huzzy must go for it.  The captain, not choosing to send for the
mat, put off again.  In a few moments two or three other messengers
came running to the beach, calling for the boat to return.  When she
had pulled in a few yards from the shore, they said that the chief
wanted Huzzy to go up to the village for the mat, and that he did not
wish to keep the axe, which he had sent back to the captain,
unwilling, as we supposed, to lay himself under so great an
obligation as its acceptance implied.  The captain refused to take
the axe, telling the messenger to say to his chief, that what we had
given, we never took back, and, with this, left the shore and
returned on board.  The tide had risen considerably over the coral
bank, and the party found the surf somewhat dangerous in returning,
having their boats nearly filled with water.

The dress and general appearance of these people, as well as their
language, was the same as that of the natives of the Mulgraves.
Their canoes were also the same.  We saw only three or four with
sails, which were hauled upon the beach.  The power of the great
chief must, therefore, consist in his dominion over other islands to
the northward and westward of him, where there is an almost connected
chain for several hundred miles, and from which, when he undertakes
an important enterprise, he must, in a great measure, draw his
resources.  It was probably with the object of collecting forces for
the great chief, that Latuano visited so many islands during his
exile from his own, and to which he was at last restored by foreign
aid.

At eight in the evening, we made sail to the northward and westward,
with a fresh breeze from the eastward.  The weather was clear, and we
stood on under easy sail all night.  Early in the morning land was
discovered, bearing nearly west, and soon afterwards more land was
seen to the north.  The last was Ibbitson's Island, and appeared to
be separate from that discovered first.  It is not improbable,
however, that they are connected by coral reefs, that were too
distant from us to be observed.

The land was all low, and had the appearance of the Mulgraves and
other coral islands.  At meridian, we hove to, and put off in two
boats.  Having passed to leeward of the island, we crossed a drowned
reef, that extended as far as the eye could reach to the N.W., when
we found ourselves in an inland sea, which was extensive and quite
smooth.  That part of the island where we landed was about five miles
long, and a quarter of a mile wide.  Upon the margin of the inland
sea, there were a number of huts, but when we landed, not an
inhabitant could be seen.  The huts had evidently been but recently
occupied.  The island was covered abundantly with cocoa-nut and bup
trees, and a few of the bread-fruit were here and there to be seen.
On the shore of the inland sea the water was smooth and unruffled,
and the humble but neat dwellings of the natives, scattered about
amongst the cocoa forests, presented a scene of quiet and repose,
peculiarly soothing to the mind, contrasted with the eternal war of
breakers on the ocean side.  We had not been long on shore before we
found a few old people, who had concealed themselves in the bushes,
and, although they were at first afraid of us, they became less
timid, and increased in number, when we had presented them with some
pieces of iron, and a few old buttons.  In return, they gave us mats,
fishing-nets, cocoa-nuts, and bup, with the last of which they filled
our boat.  Their dress and language was the same as at the Mulgraves,
and their habitations and canoes were also the same.  Amongst all
these islands, the natives ascend the cocoa-nut trees, in the way I
have described at the Marquesas.  Here we saw several very old
people, some of whom had lost all their teeth,--a circumstance we had
not before remarked in any of these islands.  There were also two or
three cripples, who were not less remarkable, being the first we had
seen.  All the females were very old, and, upon inquiring the cause,
they replied, that the young men had sent the young women away, for
fear they would be given presents.  Two or three large sail canoes
came from a great distance over the inland sea, and approached us
without fear.  The natives told us that they had never seen white men
before.

The captain landed upon a different island from myself, and the
natives, having fled from their habitations as they did upon the
island where I landed, he sent a few old people, that were found,
commanding all the inhabitants to return to their homes, and, fearing
his displeasure, in a few minutes their huts were occupied in the
same manner as though the white-faced strangers had not appeared
amongst them.

At five, P.M., we returned to the schooner, with our boats laden with
fruit, and soon afterwards made sail, shaping our course for the
Sandwich Islands.  We were favoured with south easterly trades,
blowing in fresh gales for a number of days, which rendered our
passage materially shorter than it would probably have been
otherwise.  But what was still less to have been expected than a
south-east trade in the northern tropic, was a strong current, that
set us at the rate of thirty to forty miles a day, N.E. from the
latitude of sixteen to twenty-five north.  Part of the time that we
experienced this strong current, the wind was blowing a double-reefed
top-sail breeze from East and E.N.E., differing only from two to four
points with the opposite direction of the current.  When we arrived
in the latitude of twenty-three degrees north, the trades left us,
and the winds became variable.  At meridian of December the 24th, we
were, by our calculation, thirty miles from an island, said to have
been discovered recently by a whaler, and which we made to bear from
us E. by N.  Our latitude observed was twenty-five degrees
fifty-seven minutes, N. Longitude, by chronometer, one hundred and
eighty-six degrees twenty-seven minutes, W.  We ran off to the
eastward all the following day, and at meridian, December 25th,
observed, in latitude twenty-six degrees, N.; longitude one hundred
and eighty-three degrees twenty minutes W., without having seen the
slightest indications of land.

On Christmas day, we gave the crew a dinner of turtle, which were
still fat, and very delicious.  We had fed them occasionally upon bup
and other vegetation, that was found upon the islands.

December the 27th, we came within the vicinity of another new
discovery of a whaler, and at meridian, had it bearing, by our
calculation, S.E. ten miles.  We ran for it until six, P.M., December
28th, when no appearance of land being in sight, we hove about, and
stood to the northward, for a newly discovered reef, which, at
meridian, bore from us, by calculation N. by E., distant one hundred
miles.  Latitude observed, twenty-six degrees ten minutes N.;
longitude, by chronometer, one hundred and seventy-six degrees
fifty-one minutes, W.  The reef for which we were now steering was
called, by the discoverer, Clark's Reef.  It was said to extend sixty
miles, in a south-west and north-easterly direction, and we thought
it impossible that it should escape our observation, if laid down any
where near the given latitude and longitude.

At nine, P.M., December the 30th, we were within twenty-five miles of
the centre of the reef, by our calculation, and as it was blowing a
gale, and we were scudding before it with an unusually high sea, we
hove to for the night.  At three, A.M., we again made sail, and ran
for the centre of the reef.  At meridian, December the 31st, the
centre of it was still twenty miles from us, bearing N. E. by N.
From meridian to one, P.M., we steered N. by E., and then bore up,
and steered east all the rest of the twenty-four hours, without
seeing the reef or any indications of it.  At meridian, observed, in
latitude twenty-six degrees forty-seven minutes, N.; longitude, by
chronometer, one hundred and seventy-two degrees eleven minutes, W.

We continued on to the eastward, with the hope of falling in with two
islands and a reef, of another whaler's discovery.  Our confidence in
their given latitude and longitude, however, was quite destroyed by
frequent disappointments, and we now looked for their discoveries, as
we would have sought for lands, known only in the tradition of the
natives of some unfrequented island, with the hope of finding them,
but with little expectation of success.  It happened with these, as
with all the rest of the new discoveries we had looked for.  We
passed within a few miles of the latitude, and ran down from one to
two degrees of longitude, without observing any thing that indicated
the vicinity of land.

On the second of January, 1826, we ran off to the southward of east
for Ballard's Island.  During the middle of the day, the sea, from
being very heavy, became comparatively smooth, and continued so for
sixty miles, when the heavy swell again set in from the westward, as
before.

At three, P.M., on the fourth of January, a rock was reported from
the mast-head, eight leagues from us.  It proved to be Ballard's
Island, as it is called.  At eight on the following morning, we
passed within two hundred yards of it.  It is about two or three
hundred yards in circumference, and rises two hundred feet from the
sea.  On one side it has a considerable inclination, where seals had
crawled up, and several were basking in the sun, almost to the very
top.  Large flocks of birds were perched upon its ragged sides, or
wending their flight around it.  Not the least sign of vegetation was
any where to be seen.  Near its base, was a small rock, from ten to
twenty feet above the water level.  Ballard's Rock rises in three
equi-distant peaks, the centre of which is the highest, and all of
them, to the very base, are white with bird-lime.  A high surf breaks
all around it.  Our observations placed it in north latitude,
twenty-five degrees two minuses; west longitude, one hundred and
sixty-seven degrees fifty minutes.

On the evening of January the fifth, the weather became squally, with
constant flashes of lightning and distant thunder.  From south to
west, and N.W., the heavens were obscured with a heavy black cloud,
which rose with great rapidity.  We furled all sail.  When the cloud
ascended our zenith, it became perfectly calm, and a roaring was
heard in the air for several minutes, like that of wind through the
tops of pines, when hail-stones of an unusual size began to fall upon
our deck, accompanied with very sharp lightning and heavy thunder.
The hail was of short duration, and passed over without a breath of
wind.

The nearest of the Sandwich Group was Bird Island, for which we
steered, and on the ninth of January, at eight in the morning (having
the preceding night been enveloped in fog) it was discovered close to
us.  We tacked and stood close in with the south-west side, where was
a small sand-beach, fifty to a hundred yards long.

The captain, taking the Globe's whale-boat, went in shore to fish,
but seeing a few seal upon the sand beach, was induced to land.  It
soon afterwards became squally and blew with great violence.  The
surf upon the beach rose with the wind, and, when the captain, after
a short examination of the island, attempted to return, he found it
impossible to launch his boat through the surf, and was reduced to
the necessity of passing the night upon the island.  It blew a gale
and rained in torrents all night.  The captain and his boat's crew
took shelter in a cavern upon the sea-shore, where they had not been
long by a comfortable fire they had made, when, by the rising of the
tide the sea broke in upon them, and they with difficulty escaped to
the side of the rocks, and thence upon the sand-beach.  The island
was high and almost perpendicular, and with the floods that fell and
rushed down its steep sides, rocks of a large size were disengaged
from their beds, and came tumbling down in every direction, to the
great peril of the captain and his boat's crew, sufficiently
uncomfortable from the torrents of water that were falling and
driving upon the gale.  After a little search, they found an asylum
in a cave at the side of a mountain, where they passed the night.  In
the morning, when they ascended the mountain, the schooner was no
where to be seen.  It was high and steep, and she had beat up within
a few miles of the island and passed their line of sight.  Their
disappointment and chagrin was inexpressible, supposing, from the
schooner's not being in sight, she had been driven off, and that it
would be a considerable time before she could return, and afford them
that relief their situation so much required, being very much
fatigued and exhausted from their exposure.  At day-light, the
weather cleared and the wind moderated.  We beat up and hove to off
the sand-beach nearly as soon as the boat we had sent with
refreshments.

When the captain saw the schooner approaching close in with the
island, he made a last effort to launch his boat.  They succeeded in
getting her into the breakers, but the first heavy roller that broke
under them severed the boat amid-ships, and the captain upon one end
of her and a man that could not swim on the other, were hove up
safely on the beach by the succeeding wave.  The rest of the boat's
crew were good swimmers, and also landed in safety.  Our boat was not
far off when this occurred, and anchoring as near as possible to the
shore, the men, all but one, swam off to her through the surf.  The
only way we could devise to get the captain and seaman off, was to
float a cork-jacket on shore, at the end of a line, which being put
on by the captain and seaman, alternately, and a rope tied round
them, they were hauled through the surf without any other injury than
swallowing a quantity of salt-water.

Bird's Island is an uninhabited rock, about a league in
circumference, and the highest part from five to eight hundred feet
above the ocean.  Where our boat landed, is the only spot where a
landing could be effected, and upon that side alone it has an
inclination by which it may be ascended.  Every where else it is
perpendicular, and at a distance, looks like the work of art.  It has
a scanty vegetation.

At five, P.M., January the 11th, we made sail for the island of
Oahoo, with a fine breeze from the westward and pleasant weather.  At
daylight, on the following morning, we saw the small island of
Onehow, and soon afterwards, the highland of Atooi.  During the whole
day, we were coming up with and sailing along on the west side of
Atooi, moving at the rate of eight and nine miles per hour.  Of a
clear day, it may be seen at least fifty or sixty miles.  We did not
approach nearer to it than eight or ten.  It had the appearance, at
that distance, of beautiful table-land, being every where very
regular and of nearly the same altitude.  Towards evening, on the
12th of January, we made the island of Oahoo, and should have been at
anchor in Onavoora on the following day had we passed between Atooi
and Oahoo, but from some mistake about the prevailing winds on the
opposite side of Oahoo, we continued on round the north end of it,
and did not anchor at Onavoora until the sixteenth.  Two or three
American merchant vessels were lying there, with which we exchanged
salutes.  The Dolphin was the first American man-of-war that ever
entered a harbour of the Sandwich Islands, and the firing of the
guns, and the report widely circulated that an American man-of-war
had arrived, brought the inhabitants from far and near to the shore
of the harbour to witness the novel sight.  Several of our
countrymen, who were traders here, and had been expecting us for some
time, came on board to offer their congratulations, and invite us on
shore to partake of their hospitality.  It was highly gratifying to
us upon landing, to meet nearly all of our countrymen residing at the
Island, who came down, en masse, to the beach, to welcome us on
shore, in the most kind and friendly manner.  We were a little
disappointed, however, when we came to look round and found that none
of the missionaries had partaken in the general sentiment.  They were
also our countrymen, and from the character of benevolence and
philanthropy they had assumed to themselves, we had a right to expect
they would have been amongst the first to hail us with a welcome to
their lonely abode.  We expected, indeed, that they would not only
have received us as countrymen, but as friends, whose kindness, and
sympathy would be highly acceptable to them in their peculiar
situation.

From the shore we were escorted to a large frame building called the
wooden-house, then occupied by our countryman, Captain Wilds, where a
handsome dinner was prepared, to which every luxury was added that
could be obtained from the shipping or the shore.  We were much
surprised on landing, to find a rabble of naked and half-naked
natives, amounting to many hundreds, as we had been taught to
believe, from the various information we had received, that their
condition was much improved, and that they were far advanced in
civilization.  They were of all ages, and formed a more varied and
fantastic group than I had any where seen, even where no degree of
civilization had taken place, from an intercourse with white men.
Some of them were quite naked; some had their native dress of tappa
cloths; some had on cotton shirts, some a pair of old trowsers, and
some nothing but an old jacket.  Many of them had adorned their heads
with wreaths of red and yellow flowers, and some their necks and
wrists with necklaces and bracelets of shells.  They expressed the
greatest pleasure at seeing us, shouting and crowding around, so that
we could not get along without pushing them out of the way.  In
appearance, a comparison of them with the natives of the Marquesas or
Mulgrave Islands, would have been greatly to their disadvantage.  On
the following day, we were again invited to dine at the same place,
where we met a second time with our countrymen, and interchanged with
them those sentiments of friendship and sympathy that naturally arise
on meeting in a strange land, and which are felt by Americans with
peculiar force.  It appeared to us that they could not sufficiently
express their gratification at seeing us at Oahoo, by the most
unremitted attention, for they continued to feast and give us parties
every day for more than a week, and until our various and pressing
duties made it inconvenient for us to partake of them.  On the first
sabbath after our arrival, I went to the place of worship appointed
by the missionaries for the natives.  A large building, formerly
occupied for this purpose, had been destroyed a short time previous
to our arrival, and as they had now no house sufficiently large to
contain the whole congregation, the place appointed for worship was
an extensive enclosure in the rear of a large frame building, which
is occupied as the dwelling of the young king.  Within this
enclosure, was assembled about a thousand people, as I supposed,
seated on the ground.  Some of them were dressed in silks, cottons,
and calicoes, and others were in their native dress, being quite
naked, except about the waist.  They were in the open air, without
any protection from the sun, which was pouring its vertical rays upon
them.  Mr. Bingham, the head of the mission, was addressing them in
the language of the island, and when he saw me at the outer edge of
the circle, very kindly beckoned me to come round where the queen
dowager was seated.  He was standing there himself.  A native was
holding an umbrella over his head, and around him were seated all the
chief men and women, some in chairs, and some of them on the ground.
With one or two exceptions, they were all people of uncommon size.
Some of them were quite neatly dressed, but others had displayed a
most whimsical and ridiculous fancy.  When I came near Cahumanu, who
was the favourite wife of the departed and highly distinguished
Tamahamaha, she extended her hand to me and bade one of her
attendants bring me a chair.  The service lasted about an hour, when
the assemblage dispersed, and the natives ran away as much pleased as
so many children let loose from school.  At the close of the service,
I promised myself so much politeness on the part of the distinguished
personages present, as to receive from some of them an invitation to
go into their houses, as I was in the uniform of a foreign officer;
but in this I was altogether disappointed.  I had the satisfaction of
speaking, for a few minutes, with Mr. Bingham, whose attention was
soon called from me by the presence of some chief, with whom he
wished to exchange a salutation, and after recognizing two or three
of the chiefs present whom I had seen before, I was suffered to
depart without receiving any further notice.

On Monday, I made a call of ceremony on the high chief Boque, who was
one of the attendants of the late king Rio Rio, on his visit to the
king of England.  He was a man of about thirty years of age, upwards
of six feet, and stout in proportion.  He had a flat nose and thick
lips, but the general expression of his face was that of benevolence
and good nature--an expression truly characteristic, according to the
testimony of those who have had an opportunity of knowing him well.
We found him sitting in a chair at a table, with a desk before him,
upon which he was making pot-hooks after a copy, having just
commenced learning to write.  He got up and shook hands with us, as
did also his wife, who was seated on some mats at the other end of
the hut.  Boque was dressed in a coarse linen shirt and trowsers,
having a pair of heavy shoes on his feet, without any stockings.
Queen Boque was nearly as large as her husband, and looked a good
deal like him.  She had on a plain white muslin cap and dress,
neither of which were very clean or neatly put on.  It was, however,
in as good taste as could be expected in so rude a state of society,
but I thought it less becoming than would have been her native dress.
She invited us to be seated, and made an attempt at politeness, such
as she had seen practised in England, having accompanied her husband
thither.  The hut was an oblong building, about sixty by forty feet.
Its simple structure was the same that has been in use in the islands
from time immemorial, being poles laid over crotches, upon which the
rafters rested, and differing in nothing from the habitations of the
poorest people, except that the crotches, poles, and rafters, were
longer, and there were more of them.  It was thatched from the top
all the way to the ground, with a thick covering of grass.  The
interior was all in one apartment, from the top of the rafters to the
hard beaten ground floor.  There was nothing ornamental, and no
superfluous furniture.  A bedstead standing in one corner, with some
pieces of white tappa cloth of the island for curtains, whereon was
laid a pile of mats for a bed; two or three piles of mats laying
along near the centre of the hut, raised one or two feet from the
floor, by being piled one above the other, for beds or lounging
places; two or three old chairs; a plain table of small dimensions,
and a dressing-case with a mirror in it, was all of Boque's
furniture, either useful or ornamental.  Besides these may be
mentioned a few hollow gourds for poye, (a favourite food of the
Sandwich Islanders, made from the tarrow,) hanging at the side of the
hut.

Leaving Boque's palace, we went with the intention of making a
similar call upon the high chief Crimacu, known to strangers who have
visited the island, by the name of Billy Pitt.  He was the high
carnie, or great friend of Tamahamaha, in whose wars he was greatly
distinguished for personal prowess, sagacity, and wisdom.  When we
came to his hut, we found him sleeping in a swinging cot, with
several attendants sitting round, one of whom was fanning him.  He
was in very ill health, having for a long time been afflicted with
the dropsy, and we departed without waking him.  His hut differed in
nothing from that of Boque, except that it was not so large, and had
a greater profusion of mats in it.  It was standing in one corner of
an extensive plain, that was partially enclosed by a wicker fence
just at the outskirts of the town of Onaroora, and all around it was
growing wild grass and weeds, except where the footsteps of the
people, who passed to and from the hut, had trodden them down.  It
looked but little like the habitation of a man who had been a great
warrior, and associated as second in authority with one who had
conquered and ruled over thousands of men.  One would naturally
suppose that in emerging from a savage state, with absolute power, he
would have made an attempt, at least, to imitate the style and
manners of the white men with whom he was constantly meeting, and
always on terms of friendship.

After we had interchanged salutes with the shore, chief Boque came on
board on the 17th, to make us a visit of ceremony.  He was dressed in
a splendid English major-general's uniform, and made a very handsome
appearance.  He remained and partook of a collation with us, at which
several gentlemen were invited to meet him, and in all respects
acquitted himself in a more polite and becoming manner than could
have been expected from one whose opportunities had been so limited.
He drank sparingly of wine, and left us at an early hour,
notwithstanding the solicitations of the company for him to remain.
A few hours after he had landed, I met him again, and should hardly
have recognized him but for his large stature and good-natured face.
He had stripped himself of all his finery, and was walking over the
plain from his house with nothing on but his marrow, and a piece of
tappa cloth of the island thrown loosely over his shoulders.  I asked
him why he had taken off his uniform, to which he replied, that it
was too warm.

Our countrymen, to vary the entertainments they were constantly
giving us, and thereby make them the more acceptable, proposed that
we should make an excursion to a valley, called by them Pearl River,
from the pearl frequently found in a small stream that passes through
it.  As horses could not be obtained for all, part of the company
went by water, whilst the rest, four or five, mounted on horseback.
The distance was about fifteen miles.  I made one of the land party,
and we set off early in the afternoon.  There was no road, and in
many places not even a footpath.  The whole way was over hill and
dale, and through swamps.  We had to jump fences and ditches made
through tarrow-patches, and ascend by narrow paths, difficult and
dangerous cliffs.  All the afternoon was occupied in this manner, and
it was sundown when we arrived at our place of destination.  One old
native made bold to oppose us in jumping our horses over his fence,
and was so obstinate in his refusal to let us pass, that for a time
we thought we should have to relinquish our excursion--a reflection
not very agreeable, after having advanced more than half way over so
wretched a road.  Finally, when all other arguments had failed, some
one of the party, thinking that the native opposed our trespass upon
his premises with no other object than to lay us under contribution,
gave him half a dollar, which did more for us than all our threats or
persuasion.  Instead of opposing, he afterwards pointed out to us the
best way.  From Onavoora to Pearl River, the country was thinly
inhabited.  We met with no considerable village or rich valley.  Our
road lay near the edge of a wide marsh, that intervened between us
and the sea, in the opposite direction from which, an undulating
country extended three or four miles, when it was interrupted by the
high and uninhabited range of mountains that run through the centre
of the island from one end to the other.  It was Saturday evening,
when we arrived at Pearl River, and, according to the doctrine in
which the missionaries had instructed the Sandwich islanders, their
sabbath had commenced.  The hut that we were to occupy belonged to
Captain Dana, an American gentleman, to whom we were indebted for
many hours of agreeable pastime.  Besides the hut, he possessed other
property in the valley, which gave him an influence with the chief of
it, that enabled him to command whatever it produced.  When we
arrived, the chief was seated on a mat, near Captain Dana's hut,
moody, and, apparently, very stupid.  The arrival of so many
strangers, in a place where a visiter was scarcely ever seen,
produced a lively interest amongst the villagers.  All of them seemed
to partake of the general excitement, but the chief, though
celebrated for his hospitality, was now sunk in the most listless
apathy, and apparently scarcely sensible of our presence.  When he
was told that we wanted supper, and preparation made for our
accommodation on the morrow, he replied, that it was the sabbath, and
neither then nor on the morrow could fire be made, as it was
forbidden by the Almighty.  Upon being asked how he knew that it was
forbidden by the Almighty, he said, that Mr. Bingham had seen the
Almighty, who told him so.  This was a great check to our promised
enjoyment, and one that we were quite unprepared for, as no
prohibition of making fire on Saturday, or any other night, was in
existence at Onavoora.  We saw but a poor prospect of getting supper
or any thing, indeed, until we returned, unless we fasted on Sunday,
and that our religious scruples did not call for, if it were not
unavoidable.  We were unwilling, however, to interfere with the
established observances, which had been thought necessary to civilize
and improve the condition of the people, and bore our disappointment
in silence.  After wandering about the village for a while, which was
small, and scattered over a sterile ridge, we were relieved from our
unpleasant dilemma by a native, we had taken with us as cook and
interpreter, who was commonly known upon the island by the name of
Joe Banks.  He had received some education, and had been a convert to
the missionaries, from whom he afterwards seceded.  He did not like
fasting any more than ourselves, and set about haranguing the chief,
to convince him of the error of his opinion, with respect to the
making of fire.  Joe was not wanting in either talent or volubility;
and, to our great satisfaction, we soon found him on good terms with
the chief; a fire was made, and soon after a kid and a pig brought up
for slaughter.  I observed, that the chief's skin was very rough and
in scales, resembling somewhat the shell of a small terrapin.  Upon
inquiring the cause, they told me, it was the effect of the ava-root,
of which he was undergoing a course.  He had almost finished the
course, and his skin was all peeling off.  It was the effect of the
ava, that made him so stupid, and under its operation he was a most
disgusting looking object.  The natives of the Sandwich Islands are
very much subject to cutaneous irruptions, which are troublesome,
and, when of long standing, often dangerous.  To eradicate this, and
some other offensive diseases, with which they are afflicted, they
sometimes go through a course of the ava.  It is taken in quantities
from a gill to half a pint, of the juice of the green root.  It is
chewed, and the juice spit into a gourd, if intended for the use of
another person than the one who prepares it, and is said, when taken,
to deprive the person of muscular power.  In a few moments after
swallowing the potion, he loses the use of all his limbs.  He
experiences an agreeable sensation, and is conscious of every thing
that transpires, but without the power of speech.  He lies in this
helpless condition for several hours, when he recovers his strength
in a measure, and is left in the condition of a man that has been
very much intoxicated.  This, to have the desired effect, is repeated
daily for about a month; when the disease is cured, the skin all
comes off, and a fair and shining one is left in its place.  When
once it was settled between Joe Banks and the chief of Pearl River
Valley, that fire should be made, and our supper cooked, he provided
for us in the most sumptuous native style.  We had pigs, goats, fish,
tarrow, and potatoes, in the greatest profusion.  All was cooked
after the manner of the natives, and as the same method is practised
generally amongst the islanders of the Pacific Ocean, and knowing,
from experience, that it is a very good one, I will here describe it.
A hole is first dug a foot or two deep, and large, according to the
size of the thing to be cooked.  A fire is then made in the hole,
and, when it is burning well, covered over with stones of a
convenient size.  When every thing is in readiness, the stones being
well heated, they are taken off, and the hole cleared out.  A layer
of stones is then placed all round the interior, upon which is lain
the meat, after being well wrapped up in green leaves.  Over this is
placed a thick layer of stones, which is covered with grass, or
something dry, and then with earth.  If vegetables are to be cooked,
they are lain on the top of the upper layer of stones.  The young
tops of the tarrow are usually wrapped up in leaves, and cooked with
the meats in the manner above described.  It is a very excellent
green, and called by the natives lewoca, from which the method of
cooking takes its name.  Early in the morning after our arrival, we
arose, to look upon the wild beauty of the valley, and wander through
what, at a distance, appeared to be its meadows and lawns; but, to
our great disappointment, in descending from the hills, the green
level fields that looked so pleasant at a distance, were all cut up
in tarrow patches, flooded over, and intersected in every direction
with ditches and embankments.  A scene, so uninviting, soon induced
us to relinquish our anticipated pleasure, and return.

In the course of our morning's walk we came to the house of an
Englishman, who, a few years previous, arrived at the island in a
Peruvian man-of-war, the seamen of which had risen upon their
officers, and ran away with the vessel.  He had taken to himself a
native wife, and, to all appearance, had fixed here his abode for
life.  His hut looked extremely comfortable--not less so, indeed,
than that of the chief, and besides other property that he had
acquired, he had a fine flock of sheep feeding near his residence.
He politely invited us into his house, which we declined, as we were
returning late to breakfast.

After breakfast we set off in our boat to visit a small island near
the sea shore, where there were a great many rabbits.  We passed
along several miles of an inlet of the sea, before we came to it.  It
was half a mile long, level, and overgrown with high weeds.  The
rabbits were so numerous, that the island was every where perforated
with their burrows, and one or more would be found in almost every
bunch of high grass that we came to,--so tame, that we could
frequently take them up in our hands.  We caught more than a dozen of
them in this way, in the short time that we remained.  Some years
previous, an old Spaniard, by the name of Menini, who had settled at
Onavoora, put one or more pairs of rabbits upon this small island,
and prevailed upon the chiefs to tabboo them.  From that time they
had not been disturbed.

After returning to our dinner, we all set off on our way back to
Onuvoora.  To vary the scene, I relinquished my horse and took
passage in the boat.  We sailed for several miles among marshes and
barren islands, upon a salt water inlet, up which a ship of heavy
burthen might pass for a considerable distance.  The whole way was
quite void of interest.  When we got to the sea, we had a head wind
to row against all the way.  A reef extended out from the shore,
beyond which we were compelled to go, making the distance so great,
that the evening was far advanced before we got to the Dolphin.

Not long after our return from Pearl River, I set out one day with an
American gentleman, to ascend a high and steep mountain, that rises
back of the village, which the natives, many years ago, fortified
with a few heavy pieces of cannon.  We crossed the plain, which is a
mile or a mile and a half wide, when we came to the base of the
mountain.  It was seven or eight hundred feet high, and from below,
seemed to rise almost perpendicular from the plain.  A winding
footpath, however, showed us that it had long and frequently been
ascended by the natives, and encouraged us to make the attempt.  We
had often to stop and get breath, but at last accomplished our
object, by gaining the summit and entering upon a small plain.  Here
we found several huts, that were occupied by the families of the men
appointed to guard this important post, into which we entered to
obtain leave to examine the fortification.  The people were very
friendly; they not only granted us permission, but hospitably
proffered us some excellent melons, which were very refreshing after
our laborious ascent.  There were only three men in the fort, one of
whom, that appeared to have the command, politely waited upon us in
our walk round.  The guns were mounted on a platform, at the very
edge of the precipice that overlooked the harbour and town.  They
were of thirty-two pound caliber.  It must have been a work of
inconceivable labour for the natives to get them upon this great
eminence.  The carriages and all their fixtures were very much
decayed, and totally unfit for use.  The situation is very
commanding, and notwithstanding the distance, the battery would be
formidable to an enemy in the harbour.  From this eminence, we had an
extensive and beautiful prospect, comprehending the valley and
harbour, many miles at sea, and along the sea-coast in either
direction.  The river, that waters the valley, broken in cataracts as
it rapidly descended to the sea, showed to its greatest advantage,
and the valley, covered with its tarrow patches, corn, and potatoes,
presented a landscape resembling finely cultivated fields and waving
green meadows.  In front, was the thatched village of Onavoora, the
huts looking like heaps of dry straw; beyond it, the harbour and
shipping; and still farther, at sea, a long range of white foaming
breakers.  On the extreme right, was the valley of Pearl River,
bounded by high and rugged mountains; and to the left, the cocoa-nut
groves of Whytete and Diamond Rock, with its adjacent sterile hills,
covered with volcanic cinders.

From the top of the hill, we descended in a different direction on
our return, with a view of passing through a part of the valley that
runs far back from the shore between the mountains, where it appeared
to be finely cultivated and well inhabited.  We had not gone far from
the fort, when we found ourselves near the centre of what had been
the crater of a volcano, and which, from its resemblance, has given
the eminence the name of the Punch Bowl, by which it is familiarly
known amongst foreigners.  The crater is about a quarter or half a
mile in diameter, and from one to two hundred feet deep.  When we
descended to the valley, which was not without difficulty, our way
was every where interrupted by tarrow patches, their ditches, and
embankments.  After crossing a small valley, we came to an elevated
piece of ground, where the natives who cultivated the tarrow below,
had built their habitations, and around them planted groves of
Banana.  It was a fine morning, and the people of both sexes were
industriously engaged in their appropriate occupations.  Some of the
women were roasting tarrow, and others making it up in poye.  The
latter operation was interesting to me, as I had never seen it
before.  When the tarrow is roasted, and the skin taken off, it
resembles a potatoe; it is then put into a tray, and with a long,
smooth stone, beaten up as fine as possible, occasionally mixing a
small quantity of water with it; after it has been beaten in this
way, it is worked over a number of times, to get all the lumps out;
it then has the appearance of a thick paste or starch.  A soon as it
foments a little and becomes slightly acid, it is used.  When in this
state, it will not last long before it becomes very sour, and is then
considered so unwholesome, that unless the people are very poor, it
is thrown away.

After satisfying our curiosity in seeing the women make poye, we
descended the hill where several men were preparing a tarrow patch.
It was forty feet square, excavated a little, and an embankment two
feet high thrown up all around it, descending with a considerable
angle from the top to the base, making it very broad at the bottom.
The labourers had advanced thus far, and were beating the area and
inner sides of the embankment with broad heavy paddles, going over it
a great many times.  It appeared very hard and firm when we saw them
at work; but still, they told us, that they had to beat it a great
deal more.  When this is completed, the tops of the tarrow that have
been cut off for the purpose, are set in the ground and lightly
flooded with water; after it has taken root and began to grow
thriftily, more water is let in upon it; the tarrow well grown, will
generally be covered with water to the depth of one or two feet.  It
is about the size of a beet, and takes a year or more to come to its
greatest perfection.  It has clusters of broad bright green leaves,
that in shape and appearance are a good deal like the common pond
lilly.  It is a very nutricious vegetable, and constitutes the
principal means of subsistence of the Sandwich Islanders.

The huts of the natives were very small, and although in the midst of
cultivation and fertility, the inhabitants seemed to be wretchedly
poor.  They did not appear much more civilized than the natives of
the Marquesas; their habitations were certainly less comfortable.
Returning to the village, we saw a number of people scraping sticks
that looked like our elder, and preserving the inner bark.  Upon
inquiring its use, they told us it was to catch fish with.  When
eaten by the fish, they come to the top of the water and are taken
out by hand.  It is said, the fish are not the worse for this.

On our arrival at Oahoo, the Dolphin was out of repair in every
respect, and it was indispensably necessary to refit her, before we
proceeded further on our return to the coast of Chili or Peru.
Whilst the masts were out, and the vessel was undergoing general
repairs, the captain received a letter from Captain Edwards, of the
ship Loudon, of New-York, stating that he had ran upon a reef, on the
Island of Ranai; besides a valuable cargo, he had a large amount of
specie and bullion on board.  The chief Thunder, (chief of Ranai,)
was encouraging the natives of the island to plunder him, and
finally, that his life and treasure was in the greatest jeopardy.
Although not incumbent upon him as a duty, Captain Percival, with a
promptitude highly creditable to himself and the service to which he
belonged, chartered a vessel, and with the crew of the Dolphin, and
Boque, the Governor of Oahoo, sailed on the same day that he received
the letter.  He found the situation of Captain Edwards not less
critical than he had described it to be.  The natives had already
plundered him of a part of his cargo, and his own crew was in a state
of mutiny.  Employing the authority of Chief Boque, and the
indefatigable industry of his own crew, Captain Percival caused the
stolen goods to be restored, and the cargo and treasure of the Loudon
to be safely landed at Oahoo.  When all this had been accomplished,
Captain Edwards refused to pay the charter of the vessel that was
employed for his relief, in consequence of which, a quarrel arose
between himself and Captain Percival, that eventuated in consequences
injurious and disagreeable to both parties, and after our return
home, became a subject of judicial investigation.  By this
investigation, which was brought on at the instance of Captain
Edwards, an opportunity was afforded to Captain Percival and the
officers of the Dolphin, to vindicate their characters, which they
did, in every instance, to the entire satisfaction of their
government and countrymen.

Whilst Captain Percival was absent at Ranai, Captain Jackson, of the
brig Harbinger, of Boston, addressed a letter to me, stating that his
store in the village had been broken open, and robbed of goods to a
large amount, and requesting my assistance to recover them.  The
matter was laid before the chief, Crimacu, who instituted a search,
and on the following day, sent for Captain Jackson.  At his hut, were
assembled most of the foreigners of any respectability on the island,
and many of the natives to witness the result of the inquiry.  Some
of the thieves had already been detected, and now stood before the
chief, who, although very ill, sat up to question them about the
robbery.  They confessed their guilt, and in answering the questions
put to them, convicted others, who were sent for and brought in,
until the number amounted to six.  They had shared their booty, and
were sent out, with guards, to bring it from their different places
of concealment.  It consisted, principally, of fine calicoes and
cloths, which had been put in tarrow patches, and oil casks, and when
returned, were so damaged, as to be of but little value to the owner.
When the chief got through with the inquiry, and had collected all
the goods that could be found, he asked Mr. Jackson what punishment
he would have inflicted upon the offenders.  Mr. Jackson's reply was,
that he wanted restitution made for the loss he had sustained, and
that he would leave the punishment to the chief, according to the
usage of the islands.  The chief contended that the men were all
poor, and had nothing wherewith to pay.  He said that the chiefs were
also poor, and denied the justice of compelling them, under any
circumstances, to pay for the thefts of the people.  He offered to
put the culprits at Captain Jackson's disposal, or inflict upon them
whatever punishment he should prescribe, according to the laws of his
own country.  Captain Jackson refused to say what punishment the men
should receive, and only contended that the chief was bound to see
his property, or an equivalent, restored to him.  The matter was, for
some hours in debate, when the chief compromised with Captain
Jackson, by promising to have a quantity of sandal-wood collected for
him within a prescribed period.  The thieves were set at liberty
without punishment, in consequence of which, it was surmised by some
of our countrymen, that the chiefs had been concerned in the theft.
This, I thought, a very unjust suspicion, as the investigation took
place so publicly, that the fact, if it had been so, could hardly
have failed to appear in the course of the inquiry.

The magnanimity of Crimacu,[14] in promising an equivalent for the
damaged goods, which he was not bound to do by the customs of the
Sandwich Islands, or the laws of civilized communities, gave me the
highest opinion of his character.  It appeared to me that he first
objected to remunerate the merchant for his loss, with no other
motive than to produce discussion, from which he might learn what
would be done in more enlightened countries, in a similar case.  He
was told of the different punishments that the culprits would be
subject to under the laws of America and England, but nothing could
be advanced, even supposing that he was to act in accordance with the
laws of those countries, to prove that the chiefs or king of the
islands, were in any other way responsible for the thefts committed
by individuals, than to make them stand forth and suffer in person
for their offences.  He remarked, that the information he received
from individuals of the same country, with respect to their laws and
customs, was often at variance, and so contradictory, that he was
frequently at a loss to know what he should do to answer the ends of
justice, and give satisfaction to the strangers who came to the
islands.  He declared, that the chiefs of the Sandwich Islands,
wished to do like other people.

Amongst those with whom we held frequent and friendly intercourse,
was an Englishman, by the name of Wilkinson, who had taken passage to
the Sandwich Islands, in the Frigate Blonde, when she went there with
the remains of king Rio Rio, and who had banished himself from his
own country to this distant region, with a view of becoming a planter
of the Sandwich Islands.  He had been, according to his own
statement, a planter in the West Indies in early life, and
subsequently on his return to England, joined a troop of horse, of
which he was a captain, destined for Spain, during the war in the
Peninsula, where he served for a considerable time, but at the close
of the war, having left the army, and met with a reverse of fortune,
he had determined to make the experiment in which he was now engaged.
A bold one, it must be confessed, for a man, at the age of
forty-five, and with an enfeebled constitution.  Aided by Captain
Byron, (who, from his high rank, and the flattering mission upon
which he had been sent, was well prepared to assist him,) Mr.
Wilkinson obtained from the chiefs the first deed that ever was
granted by them, for two hundred acres of land.  It was situated
about six miles from Onavoora, on elevated ground, bordering upon a
narrow valley that winds through the mountains for several miles back
from the sea.  The chiefs granted the deed with great reluctance,
notwithstanding the respectable source from which the petition came,
being extremely tenacious of that command and sovereignty of the
soil, that enables them, at pleasure, to dispossess the occupant.
They the more willingly relinquished the spot that Mr. Wilkinson had
fixed upon for his residence, as it was situated upon land so high,
that it could not be used for the culture of tarrow, and was at the
time unoccupied.  With uncommon industry, although cramped by the
want of money, that would have given it its full effect, he had
reclaimed from a wild state, about fifty acres of land, which, when
we arrived there, was planted with sugar-cane, corn, potatoes,
bananas, &c., thus providing for his immediate wants, whilst the cane
promised a rich harvest, that would amply reward him for his toil,
whenever he could complete his machinery for the manufacture of
sugar.  In this, however, to all appearance when we were there, he
would encounter great difficulty, as materials were not easily
obtained; and although there were some mechanics on the island, their
constant employment in the village, where they could frequently see
their countrymen, and withal, their fondness for pleasure was likely
to deprive him for a long time of their useful services, without
which, he could do nothing.  Connected with his land, was a stream of
water running from the mountains, that would answer his purpose for
manufacturing sugar.  In a part of it that possessed all local
advantages, he had made a dam and collected part of the materials for
a mill, to be constructed in the simplest manner, but which, for the
want of mechanical aid, lay in almost the same rude state in which he
had purchased them.  He anticipated, however, with great confidence,
that by the time the cane was ready for cutting, the mill would be
prepared, when the hopes by which he had first been stimulated, could
scarcely fail to be realized.  The sugar cane grows wild upon the
Sandwich Islands, and Mr. Wilkinson's fields were from the native
growth, which he had planted in prepared land, and at our departure,
the canes were upwards of six feet high.

Although several strangers, familiar with the arts of civilized
countries, have settled and lived, for many years, amongst the
Sandwich Islanders, Mr. Wilkinson was the first individual who ever
attempted to put them in practice, upon a scale, sufficiently
extensive to improve, materially, the agricultural condition of the
islands, and thereby prove to the inhabitants the wealth they
possess, in a rich soil, and one of the finest climates on the face
of the globe.  Should Mr. Wilkinson be successful, the result of his
experiment will probably do more towards the civilization of the
natives, and their ultimate advancement in knowledge and lasting
prosperity, than has yet been effected by all the white men that have
lived amongst them.  This, I am aware, will be considered a rash
assertion by the good people of our country, who, from the best of
motives, feel deeply engaged in foreign missions, and, in expressing
this opinion, I will also bear testimony to the useful services of
the missionaries.  From the best information that I could obtain upon
the subject, I am satisfied, that they have improved the morals of
the people, and if they devote themselves to the schools that they
have established, and to introducing the arts of life and
civilization, the time may not be distant, when the natives will be
prepared to receive Christianity.  But in their present condition,
would it not be better, and more in the true spirit of that
benevolence and philanthropy which is inspired by our religion, to
teach them how to cultivate their land, to introduce grain and
fruits, congenial to the climate, and to plant and reap as we do,
rather than imbue their minds with a mysterious doctrine, which,
being beyond their comprehension, must resolve itself into a dark and
intolerant superstition.

The inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands, are mild, amiable, and
intelligent, and susceptible of the highest degree of moral and
intellectual improvement.  As a people, it may be said, that the
stamp of civilization is scarcely perceptible yet upon them; and it
is now inevitable, that they must bear the impress of those, whom our
philanthropists have sent to convert them to Christianity; and,
whether they become ignorant zealots, or intelligent Christians, will
depend upon their teachers.  The situation of these missionaries is,
therefore, one of high responsibility, and ought not, in Christian
charity, to be occupied by the narrow-minded fanatic, or the ignorant
zealot.  It is of the first importance that they, who dispose of the
vast means of the missionary society, should select only such men for
civilizing and Christianizing the Sandwich Islanders, as are
distinguished for their knowledge, and love of the useful arts of
life, as well as for practical piety.

The harbour of Onavoora, is a place of general rendezvous for the
whale ships, cruising on the coast of Japan, and in the vicinity of
the islands.  The months of January, February, and March, being the
least favourable for their business, they then leave their cruising
ground, and go in search of refreshment.  No place is so convenient
for them as the Sandwich Islands, and the port of Onavoora, being the
most commodious of any in the group, and affording an abundant supply
of vegetables, hogs, &c.,--they all congregate there in the months
above mentioned.

The average number that visit the island in the course of the year,
is upwards of fifty.  More than twenty were there together, at
several different periods of our stay, some of which remained a few
days, some weeks, and a few one or two months, according to their
several necessities.  At such times the seamen, from having been long
confined to the narrow precinct of their vessels, become very
insubordinate, and frequently give way to the most licentious
indulgences of their passions, regardless of every obligation of
obedience due to their officers.  We witnessed frequent instances of
this kind, and had the satisfaction of being constantly useful to the
captains of ships, and the whaling interest, by restraining the
violent, and coercing them to a proper sense of duty.

A most unpleasant occurrence took place about six weeks after our
arrival at Onavoora, arising from this disposition of the seamen, and
other causes, which was afterwards greatly misrepresented in this
country.  Some of the seamen of the Dolphin, who were on liberty, got
into a frolic, and, associating themselves with many others belonging
to the whale ships, determined to go to the houses of the high chiefs
and missionaries, and demand the repeal of a restriction that
deprived them of the society of females.  They produced a riot that
gave rise to a considerable degree of excitement for a few minutes;
but Captain Percival, with some of the officers of the Dolphin, and
captains of whale-ships, promptly suppressed it, and prevented any
serious outrage.  It was afterwards unjustly and most ungenerously
ascribed to the officers of the Dolphin.

The white population of Onavoora is of a varied character, from the
agent of our North West traders, to the most abandoned members of
society.  There are from fifty to a hundred, permanently settled at
Onavoora; the least respectable of whom, maintain themselves by
keeping tippling shops Tor sailors, and practising such chicaneries
as are suggested by opportunities and the absence of law.  The season
for the whalers to visit the Island is the time of their harvest,
when, besides their gains from entertaining the seamen, they
frequently prevail upon them to desert for the sake of the reward for
their apprehension, or to strip them of what little money or clothes
they may be possessed of.  Some of them have married women of the
Island, and live much in the same way as the natives.  Of all the
permanent settlers at Onavoora, the most remarkable was a Spaniard by
the name of Meninne, who had been in the Islands upwards of thirty
years.  Of his manner of getting there, a variety of stories were
told.  His own account was, that being invited on board of a vessel
that visited the coast of California, he fell asleep in the evening,
and, when he awoke, found himself at sea, and the vessel running,
with a fair wind, for the Sandwich Islands.  All his entreaties to be
returned to land were in vain, and he arrived at Owhyhee, where, poor
and friendless, he was landed amongst the natives.  He wandered from
island to island, in a forlorn and wretched condition, until he was
taken under the patronage of Tamahamaha.  For a long time, he
followed the fortunes of the native warrior, and at length fixed his
residence at Oahoo, from whence he occasionally embarked as
interpreter on board of merchant vessels, bound on smuggling voyages
to the coast of America.  After passing through a variety of fortune,
being several times made prisoner and threatened with death, he
finally quitted his vagrant life, and remained permanently at Oahoo,
where, by great industry and economy, he has acquired an amount of
property which, for that place, is a princely fortune.  Besides
having money in the United States and England, he owns nearly all the
cattle on the Island of Oahoo, a number of horses, flocks of goats,
sheep, &c.  He has extensive possessions in land, which he holds from
the chiefs in consideration of his services, and a great many houses.
He has taken some pains to introduce exotics in the Islands, and
besides the lemon, orange, and other valuable fruits, has a vineyard
from which he makes a considerable quantity of wine annually.  He is
said to be extremely selfish, and so jealous of preserving to himself
a monopoly of these valuable fruits, that he has been accused of
destroying the young plants of others.  He is considered as ranking
amongst the chiefs in the enjoyment of certain privileges; and,
speaking the language of the Islands well, is called upon as
interpreter for the government upon all important occasions.  He has
had thirty-seven children by various wives, and is yet in the prime
of life.  Like most men who have felt the cold hand of poverty, and
afterwards acquired wealth, he is extremely penurious, and thinks of
nothing so much as adding to his fortune without knowing how to enjoy
it.

On the 3d of April, the young king and all the high chiefs, were
invited on board to spend the day with us.  In the morning, we
dressed the schooner in all the flags we could muster, and made the
best preparation our limited accommodation would admit of to receive
our distinguished guests.  No indication of their appearance was seen
for some time after every thing was in readiness, and our boats on
shore in waiting, and we were kept in suspense until we had almost
despaired of seeing them.  All at once the whole town was in an
uproar, and the people were running and hallooing in every direction.
The young king in advance, walked arm in arm with one of the officers
of the Dolphin.  Next came Boque and his spouse, with other high
dignitaries, and in the rear a multitude of people of both sexes and
all ages.  When they had embarked, the eyes of the people were turned
upon another object, not less interesting to them than the king.
Crimacu, or Billy Pitt, too ill to walk, was gravely making his way
to the beach in a hand cart, where he got into a boat and came on
board soon after the king.  We received them with manned yards, and a
salute of twenty-one guns.  The king, who was a boy of ten or twelve
years old, was dressed in a military uniform that was sent to him
from the king of England, and upon his shoulders he wore a pair of
golden epaulets, with crowns on them.  He appeared to be sensible of
his rank, and, upon two or three occasions, addressed his attendants
in a way that indicated a wish to make a display of his authority.
The chiefs conducted themselves towards him with a becoming respect,
but without bestowing upon him any attention that might interfere
with their own enjoyment or convenience.  Instead of partaking of
what we had provided for our guests, they, with one or two
exceptions, unceremoniously uncovered their poye pots, which had been
brought with them by an attendant, and ate heartily of their
favourite food, using their fingers as is the native custom.  Boque
again displayed his major general's uniform, and was amongst the most
polished of our guests.  After passing a number of hours on board,
they returned to the shore delighted with their visit.  The same
compliment was paid them as at their reception.  It was a day of
great enjoyment with the common people.  They received their chiefs
on landing with loud huzzas, and followed them in crowds to their
respective habitations.

We passed all the winter months at Onavoora, during which we had
frequent heavy rains.  Some of the storms were attended with violent
gales, and disagreeably cold weather.  About the 3d of May, an
influenza made its appearance amongst the inhabitants of Oahoo, and
in two days not a well native was any where to be seen.  The market,
from being well attended, was deserted.  In a week, the distress was
so general and so great, that it was feared the poor people would
perish with hunger.  I visited several families, not a member of
which was able to help himself or others, and all were totally
destitute of food.  A great many of the people died, and amongst the
rest two chiefs, one of whom was George Tamauri, a native of the
Island of Atooi, who was educated in this country.  The other was
Cahaliha, next in affinity to the king.  Scarcely any of the white
people were affected.  Not even those living on shore.  In about ten
days, the people from the country began to make their appearance in
the market, the distress was greatly alleviated, and soon afterwards
the general good health restored.  At such times of suffering, the
condition of these people is truly wretched.  They have no floor to
their huts but the hard-beaten ground from which their naked bodies
are separated only by two or three thin mats, and during the rainy
season the earth becomes perfectly saturated with water.  Their huts
are generally built in a very frail manner, and in a driving storm
are not proof against the rain.  This, alone, is sufficient to
account for the thinly populated state of the islands, without
charging the natives with the acts of inhumanity that have been
ascribed to them by some people.

The harbour of Onavoora is formed by coral reefs, that extend upwards
of a mile from the shore.  The entrance to it is narrow and somewhat
difficult.  It affords water enough for a sloop of war.  A pilot in
and out of the harbour, is always employed.  It is very secure, being
quite land locked.  The holding ground is good, and vessels may lay
in safety close along side of the beach.  The water is perfectly
smooth in good weather, and the bottom and shores being nearly every
where of soft mud, a vessel might be driven upon them in a gale
without sustaining any material injury.  The visits of the numerous
whale ships has made Onavoora a place of considerable trade.  All of
them spend more or less money for their necessary refreshments, and
when out of repair, their disbursements are frequently very
considerable.  For the supplies afforded by the natives, thousands of
dollars are annually received by them, which they give in return for
silk, cotton, calicoes, cloth, &c.  Two or three stores, well stocked
with a great variety of goods, are supported in Onavoora by this
interchange of commodities; and, from the way in which the trade is
conducted, there is but little doubt that the proprietors are
rewarded with handsome profits.  The sandal wood has become scarce
upon the islands, from the large quantities formerly taken away by
our traders, and does not now form a very lucrative or extensive
article of commerce.  Upon this article, some of our merchants are
said to have made large sums of money in exchange for whole cargoes
of goods, with the chiefs of the Sandwich Islands.  It is related of
Tamahamaha, that, after making a purchase of this kind, which he paid
for in ship loads of sandal wood, brought from the mountains with
great labour to himself and people, he has been known to load a
number of canoes secretly at night, with fine broadcloths, and take
them out to sea, where he sunk them with stones.  His only reason for
it was, that the possession of them would make his chiefs and people
too luxurious and idle, and bringing sandal wood from the mountains
to pay for more, would give them employment.  A doubtful policy,
certainly, if the statement be true.  Be this as it may, himself and
successor have entailed upon their descendants a national debt of
several hundred thousands of dollars, now due to our merchants, which
they will not soon be able to liquidate.

On the 11th of May, after long anticipating our much wished for
departure, we got underway, and saluting the fort as we passed it
with twenty-one guns, stood out to sea and shaped our course for
Chili.  Nothing material transpired from the time of our sailing
until the 7th of June, when standing along with a fresh trade, and
the night dark and squally, at 10 P.M., the lookout-ahead reported
land close aboard.  We tacked and lay to for the night, to survey our
newly discovered island on the following morning.  At daylight, it
bore S.S.W., about six miles from us, and appeared in three small
hummocs, covered thickly with trees and bushes, every where bounded
by a coral reef and heavy surf.  We hesitated for some time whether
we should land, apprehending that it would be attended with too much
risk, merely for the gratification of curiosity; but this feeling
operated so powerfully upon us, that there was no resisting the
desire to land where no one had ever been before.  Accordingly, two
boats were sent off, and watching a favourable opportunity passed
through the surf in safety, and landed on the coral bank where they
were left high and dry by the receding wave.  It was on the lee side
of the island, and a coral reef stretched off about fifty or a
hundred yards from the shore, full of holes, and almost dry at low
water.  In the holes we sought for fish, as at Caroline Island, but
found very few.  On traversing the island, we could find no fruit or
vegetable of any description except bup.  In most places it was
covered with trees and bushes of a thick growth, almost impenetrable.
In the bushes we found a great many tropical birds setting, so tame
that we could take them off of their nests with our hands, and in
getting upon the weather side of the island where there was a clear
space, we found a species of small gull, so numerous, that when they
rose from the ground at our approach, they appeared to form almost a
compact mass.  The sand was literally covered with their eggs, which,
upon examination, proved to be unfit for use, with few exceptions.
The birds flew and hovered so near to us that we caught several of
them with our hands.  After amusing ourselves a little while with the
novel spectacle of such numbers of birds so very tame, we collected
all the old eggs within a small space, and in less than twenty
minutes after it had been thus cleared, it was again covered with
fresh eggs by the birds that were constantly lighting.  We might, in
a few hours, have loaded our boats with them.  When we returned to
our boats to go on board, the tide had risen, and with it the surf
had increased to an alarming degree.  At first, we held a
consultation whether we should attempt to pass through it or remain
until it should again subside with the falling of the tide; but the
day was far advanced, and the appearance of the weather such, as in
all probability would render our situation extremely painful, there
being every prospect of an increase of wind.  We therefore determined
to put our fortune to the test, and were not a little discouraged
when on one of the boats attempting the surf was thrown back by the
second roller that she encountered with the utmost violence,
upsetting her, and scattering the people in different directions,
some of them escaping with their lives with the greatest difficulty.
Notwithstanding the ill success of our first attempt, we determined
on a second, rather than risk the consequences of longer delay.
Embracing a favourable opportunity where the surf appeared least
violent, we put off, and passed through it in safety without further
accident.

The island was little more than a mile long, and from a hundred yards
to a quarter of a mile wide.  It was every where very low.  By a
meridian observation, we placed the north-west end of it in latitude
south 21 degrees 48 minutes, and longitude by chronometer 154 degrees
54 minutes west.  In compliment to the commander of our squadron in
the Pacific Ocean, we called it Hull's Island.  It may be
comprehended within the group of Society Islands.

In the afternoon, June the 4th, we made sail; and on the following
day at half-past 6 o'clock, A.M. discovered the island of Ramitaria,
on the lee bow, about eight leagues from us.  This island was not
laid down in any of our charts, having been discovered only three or
four years before; but we had seen a gentlemen who had stopped there,
and it was included in our list of islands.  On approaching it we
were pleased to find that it differed from many of the islands we had
visited, being of a moderate elevation.  It is about three miles long
and one or two wide.  We ran nearly round it before we found a place
to land, the surf breaking high every where, and the shores bounded
by large rocks of coral.  At last, we came to the principal
settlement, which was situated close to the shore, where a large
white-washed house indicated the former visits and influences of the
missionaries.  The people, to the number of one or two hundred, were
assembled on the beach inviting us to land.  Here, also, was a
considerable surf and some coral rocks, which made the landing not
altogether free from difficulty.  When the boat came near the shore
and while she was yet shooting rapidly through the surf, the natives,
who had already advanced to meet us, laid hold as many as could get
round her, and with loud shouting, carried us high upon the beach.
At this somewhat unexpected reception, the boat's crew instinctively
seized their pistols, thinking at first, that the natives were
hostile in their disposition towards us.  It was but a momentery
panic which passed away with the kind salutations we immediately
afterwards received.  When I enquired for the chief, a young man was
pointed out to me in the crowd, distinguished from the rest by an old
hat on his head, that he had obtained from some former visiter.  He
seemed not to be treated with the least respect by the people, who
jostled him in the crowd with the most perfect carelessness.
Scarcely had I addressed him, when a stout native came up with an air
of some importance, and saluting me, told me in the language of the
Society Islands, that he was the missionary.  Upon his approach, the
chief immediately shrunk back into the crowd.  He called to him a
Malay, who was not far off, and bade him ask what we wanted.  The
Malay, whose name was Manoo, spoke English very well, which was a
source of great satisfaction to us, as we could thereby communicate
our wants freely, and it introduced us at once to each others'
acquaintance.  I explained to Manoo that we were in want of water and
such refreshments as the island might afford.  He immediately
proceeded in company with the missionary to show me where water was
to be obtained.  We passed through a forest of very large trees over
a plain that extended more than half a mile, when we came to a marsh
of reeds and rank grass, where there was from one to two feet of
water, covering an area of two or three acres.  This would not answer
our purpose as the water was not very good, and its distance from the
place of embarkation rendered it too laborious an undertaking to
water the vessel from it.  When I had remarked this to Manoo and the
missionary, they replied that there was better water, but it was
still more distant.  I suffered them to conduct me to it, and we took
a footpath over rising ground, and through another delightful forest
of bread-fruit and other wide-spreading trees, passing many fine
tarrow patches, and at the distance of half a mile from the marsh, we
came to a spring of excellent water.  Manoo and the missionary both
expressed a great deal of disappointment when I spoke in terms of
disapprobation of this also as a watering-place--it being altogether
too far from the shore.  On our return from the spring, we took a
different footpath from that by which we came, and ascended to a more
elevated part of the island to see the work of the missionary, as it
was called by Manoo.  This consisted of two or three enclosures by
means of stakes, in the midst of the forest, where the trees had been
cut down for several acres, which was cleared and planted with sweet
potatoes and tobacco.  The enclosures were made, and all the labour
of clearing the forest was done, as Manoo remarked, by such of the
wicked and disobedient, as had resisted the authority and ordinances
of the white missionary during his residence on the island some
months previous.  Since then, the white missionary had returned to
Otaheite, and sent this native missionary, who belonged to that
island, to represent him in his absence.  Leaving the enclosures of
tobacco and sweet potatoes, we came into a thicket where the trees
were overrun with the vines of the yam, growing wild and covered with
beautiful blue flowers that gave a picturesque appearance to the
forest, and filled it with their fragrance.  We passed five or six
stone columns that had been sixty or seventy feet high, and twenty or
thirty in circumference.  They were in a dilapidated state, having in
part been thrown down by order of the missionaries.  Manoo told me
that they were monuments erected in honour of the Indian god.
Several of these ruins were standing by the side of an old
burial-place in the edge of the woods near the shore.  Each of the
graves were neatly enclosed with a wall of stone.  When we returned
to the village, I was taken to a large frame building called the
missionary house, where the missionary had prepared a roasted pig and
some tarrow, for our dinner.  He designed to entertain me after the
manner of the whites, and with this view, had placed our repast on a
large coarse table that stood in the middle of the room with benches
round it.  When we were seated, he unlocked a chest and took from it
a plate for each of us, and a knife and fork, all of which were
extremely dirty, and the knives and forks quite covered with rust.
This, however, he did not seem to remark, although he evidently
wished me to think that he knew how to be polite, after the fashion
of my country people.  He acquitted himself pretty well, to his own
satisfaction, until he attempted to use the knife and fork--but that
was altogether too much for him.  After making several trials in vain
to cut his meat, he asked me to assist him; and finally, before he
had half finished his dinner, laid down his clumsy instruments and
used his fingers.  The chief, and as many of the natives as could get
into the room came round us, but none of them were invited to partake
with the missionary and myself, except Manoo, whilst the hungry crowd
stood looking wistfully at us.

Soon after we had finished our dinner, the captain and several of the
officers landed, and we exchanged several articles with the natives
for their pigs, yams, &c.  The following day was their Sabbath and
our Saturday, and they insisted that we should remain until Monday,
before any exchange of commodities took place.  When, however, we
declared our determination to depart that evening, they began
collecting whatever might be acceptable to us.  Hogs of various
sizes, were brought to the beach in great numbers.  Needles,
jack-knives, and old clothes, were our articles of traffic, than
which we could have offered them nothing more valuable.  By sundown,
we had collected from thirty to forty hogs, and a good supply of
yams.  In a few hours more, we might have obtained twice as many upon
the same terms.

Towards the close of the day, when the missionary felt assured that
it was our determination to depart, he asked if I was a doctor, or
had any skill in medicine; and, although I replied in the negative,
insisted upon my going to his house to see, and prescribe for his
wife, who, he told me, was extremely ill.  Upon entering his hut, we
found her laying on a mat on the floor; and notwithstanding the
weather was oppressively warm, she was covered over with a great many
pieces of the tappa cloth, head and all, and perspiring most
profusely.  The missionary, with great gravity, but most
unceremoniously, removed all the covering, and pointed out to me her
infirmity, which was nothing more than a common bile, with which she
seemed to be suffering considerable pain.  I declined prescribing,
although repeatedly requested to do so; and at sun-down, we embarked
and made sail.  Had it been convenient for us to remain two days
longer at Ramitarias, we could have obtained an abundant supply of
whatever the island produced, for a very trifling consideration; but
although there was anchorage, it was unsheltered, and too near the
shore for us to ride in safety.

At six, P.M. on the 10th of June, we took our departure from
Ramitarias; and at day-light, on the 13th, made the Island of
Toubouai, bearing to the northward and eastward, about eight leagues
from us.  In getting in with the S.W. part of the island, we found an
extensive reef, upon which the surf was breaking with great violence.
We hauled round to the east side, passing two small uninhabited
islands, but there was not the slightest appearance of a
landing-place, the surf breaking heavily as far as we could see.  At
four, P.M. we anchored on the north side, in seven fathoms water, and
sent boats in search of the harbour, along the west shore.  In the
evening, they returned, having found it, and on the following
morning, we got underway, and beat up for it.  When we had advanced
near the opening, through the coral reefs that extend from the shore
several miles, a Mr. Strong, an American, came on board, and piloted
us in through a difficult passage.  The channel was narrow, and very
crooked; but we had not less than three and a half fathoms water.
Our anchorage was within a coral reef, about a mile from the shore,
in four and a half fathoms.  On the day previous to entering the
harbour, we discovered that the head of our mainmast was decayed, and
badly sprung.  In this situation, we congratulated ourselves in
having found a secure harbour, where the water was tolerably smooth,
which was very essential in fixing the mast securely.

Nearly all the inhabitants of Toubouai, consisting of about two
hundred, were living on the side of the island where we were
anchored, in two different settlements.  One of them was the
residence of two Otaheite missionaries, who governed in spiritual and
temporal affairs; and at the other, was the residence of the king,
who, since the coming of the missionaries, retained but a small share
of the power that formerly appertained to his station.  He lived on
apparently good terms with the missionaries, fearing their influence
with the people, but secretly declaring his aversion to them.  He was
the more afraid of offending them, as there was a living example of
their displeasure constantly before him, in the person of one who had
formerly exercised the regal authority in the missionary village, of
which they had divested him for disobedience, and compelled him to
live in the condition of a common private person.  Soon after the
arrival of the missionaries, the people became divided into two
parties, one of which advocated matrimony, and the other the
unrestrained indulgence which is practised in a state of nature.  The
first, called themselves the missionary party; the latter, the party
of the Tutiori.  After a long struggle for the ascendency, the
Tutiories took up arms and retired from the habitable part of the
island, declaring themselves independent of the missionaries.  They
remained for several days undisturbed in their disobedience, when a
party was sent to bring them to terms.  The Tutiories at first
retreated, but finally made a stand, and after a slight show of
resistance, submitted, promising to go home and live in the
observance of the missionary precepts.  The dethroned king, was at
the head of the Tutiories.

At the lower village, as it was called by us, where the king lived,
was a party of our countrymen, who had been there for a number of
months building a vessel.  They had completed the frame and commenced
planking, when, unfortunately, a quarrel arose between them and the
people of the missionary village, which terminated in open hostility,
and the loss of several lives.  One of the white men only, was
killed.  Scarcely had they made peace with the natives, when they
quarrelled among themselves, and nearly half of their number (four or
five) discontinued their work, and waited only for an opportunity to
leave the island.  This mutinous disposition of a few, paralized the
efforts of the whole party, and it was probable from appearances,
that the labour they had bestowed with so much effect, would be
entirely lost to themselves and their employer, Captain Dana of
Massachusetts, whom we had seen at Oahoo.

The king and myself, became high carnies, (or great friends) the day
after our arrival; and from that time until our departure, he did
everything in his power to merit my regard.  My mess was constantly
supplied with bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, tarrow, and bananas; and
whenever I was on shore, he waited upon me everywhere with the most
friendly attention.  Our friendship commenced in the following
manner, simple enough, it is true, but I believe it was not the less
sincere on that account.  Seeing me with a jack-knife in my hand, he
expressed a wish to look at it, when I told him that he might have
it.  He received it, and after observing me for a moment, put his
hand upon my arm and remarked, now you and I will be high carnies.  I
sincerely reciprocated his kindness, so strongly recommended by the
disinterested simplicity with which it was proffered.  Two or three
days after our arrival, I landed with a view of traversing the
island.  I found king Dick, as I used to call him, upon a bank of
coral that stretched out from his house, with a long wooden spear in
his hand, looking about in the holes for fish.  He begged me to wait
until he had taken one for his dinner, and he would accompany me.
Accordingly, having succeeded in a few minutes afterwards, we set off
together.

The island was two or three miles wide, and we had not proceeded far,
when we came to an extensive marsh that runs through the middle of
it.  King Dick stopped, and insisted upon carrying me over on his
back.  Feeling that it was too menial an office to be performed by a
king, although an untutored native, I remonstrated with him, and
positively refused to be carried; but after resisting his importunity
for some time, he took my musket in his hand, and I mounted on his
shoulders.  The marsh was several hundred yards wide, and king Dick
found his burthen very heavy before he landed me on the opposite
side.  We there entered upon a romantic and extensive plain, covered
with cocoa-nut, and bread-fruit trees, plantain walks, papayas, &c.;
interspersed through which, were numerous huts that appeared to have
been long deserted.  We traversed this plain for miles, with little
variation; the same pleasing prospect everywhere presenting itself,
when suddenly king Dick stopped, and made the whole forest ring with
the shrill notes of his voice.  After repeating it for several times,
he was answered at a distance, and soon afterwards, we saw a native
making his approaches towards us.  King Dick said something to him,
and he ascended a cocoa-nut tree, after the manner of the people of
the Marquesas, and threw down a sufficient quantity of nuts to quench
our thirst.  He afterwards conducted us to a house where there were
two women and several children.  They were delighted to see us, and
hospitably proffered whatever they had of refreshment.  They gave us
a preparation of dried bread-fruit, of which king Dick ate very
heartily, but to me it was scarcely palatable.  Near the house there
were several citron and lemon trees, the only ones that I saw on the
island.

In our route back, we met with large quantities of sugar cane in a
wild state.  We passed the burial-place of the village, where, beside
two or three newly made graves, were rudely carved images placed
there in conformity to a native custom, that had not yet been
abolished by the influence of the missionaries.  When we arrived at
king Dick's house, we found dinner waiting for us.  It consisted of
the fish he had taken in the morning before our departure, roasted
fowls, bread-fruit, tarrow, &c.  The whole was wrapped up in plantain
leaves, and placed on a mat upon the floor, around which, we all
seated ourselves, there being a number of visiters present.  During
our repast, king Dick went frequently to a large chest, where he kept
a bottle of rum I had given him, and, after proffering me the bottle,
he would help himself, and lock it up in the chest again, without
taking the least notice of the rest of his visiters.  No miser ever
guarded his treasure more penuriously than the king did his bottle of
rum; not only on this, but all other occasions.  His house was large,
and a lounging place for all the idle people of his village; and,
although there were always a number present when I made my visits,
and he never failed to offer me a portion of his favourite beverage,
the wistful lookers-on received not the slightest notice.  I once
ventured to propose to him to give some to his friends, but he said
no, it was too good for them.  When, after a week's stay at Toubouai,
our departure was spoken of, king Dick expressed the liveliest
regret, and proposed going with us.  We told him that he would never
be able to get back again; to which he replied, that he should not
care about returning.  The day before we left, he sent me, on board,
an abundant sea-stock, of fruits and vegetables, and a good-sized
hog.  As a parting gift, I dressed him up in an old uniform of mine,
that seemed to give him infinite pleasure.  To his presents, his wife
added several pieces of the tappa cloth, some of which, were as fine
specimens of the native manufacture, as I ever met with anywhere.

At Toubouai, we added considerably to our collection of curiosities.
The most ingeniously wrought article, was a lash, used by the natives
for brushing the flies off of their backs.  The handles were carved
to represent a man's face, or some animal familiar to them.  The lash
itself, was, in several strands, finely braided from twine of the
cocoa-nut husk.  The natives were, in general, naked, except a
wrapper round their waists, and had a sickly and feeble look.  The
island is very fertile, producing, in many parts, large quantities of
cocoa-nut and bread-fruit, and is capable, without further
improvement, of sustaining some thousands of people.  The population
has greatly diminished within the recollection of recent visiters.
It must have been much greater when visited by the mutineers of the
Bounty, who built a fort on the island, but afterwards became
dissatisfied, and left it in consequence of the treacherous and
hostile character of the natives.  The only survivor of those guilty
men, who is now the patriarch of Pitcairn's Island, states, that they
had war with the natives previous to leaving Toubouai, and that they
killed a great many of them.  His estimate of the inhabitants at that
time, is fifteen thousand.  King Dick told me, that the huts we saw
on the side of the island opposite to where we anchored, were once
inhabited by people who were all dead.  We obtained wood and water of
a good quality, without much labour.  Hogs were scarce, and we got
none but what were presented to us.  The natives gave us a few
domestic fowls, in exchange for writing paper.  The paper was used by
the women for making paste-board for a bonnet, that had just been
introduced amongst them by the wives of the Otaheite missionaries.

On the island of Toubouai, there is a tree, the bark of which, makes
excellent cordage.  It is produced in great abundance, and grows to
the size of six or eight inches in diameter.  After the ship builders
were interrupted in their work, by the discontent of some of the
party, the remainder made a rope-walk, and devoted themselves to
making rope of this bark.  They had several small cables, and a
considerable quantity of rope.  We purchased some, and found it to
wear nearly, or quite, as well as hemp.  Arrow root, grows
spontaneously upon the island, and has been taken away by several
vessels, as an article of commerce.  We were informed that the
scarcity of hogs was in consequence of a great many having been
carried off recently, by a vessel belonging to the missionaries.
Also, that they lay all the small islands under contribution, and
annually send their small vessels to collect the hogs, which they
barrel, and send to Port Jackson.  This may be true or not.  It was
positively asserted.

Our stock of bread was nearly exhausted, and what remained, was in a
damaged state.  Having failed in all our attempts to obtain a supply
of yams, that would enable us to reach the coast of South America, an
examination was held upon the bread, to the end, that we might adopt
such expedients as should be deemed most proper.  Valparaiso, was our
most direct port; there was but one inhabited island (Oparro,) in our
way, and that at some distance from a straight course.  To avoid,
however, so disagreeable a circumstance as being without bread, we
determined to touch at Oparro, and get whatever we could for a
substitute.  Accordingly, we put to sea on the 22d of June, and on
the 25th, made Oparro, a little before day-light, five leagues from
us.  When we came near, its appearance was rude and inhospitable in
the extreme, being a mass of rugged mountains, about a thousand feet
high, and eight or ten miles in circumference.  On the north-west
side, there were no signs of inhabitants.  The mountains rose almost
perpendicularly from the Ocean, and we sounded frequently, close to
the shore, without getting bottom.  In rounding the island, to the
northward and eastward, we opened a valley, where there was a number
of huts, and some patches of tarrow.  A boat was sent in shore, and
two of the natives came on board, who informed us that there was a
harbour to the eastward.  We continued on, and after landing at one
or two other small valleys, where there were huts and tarrow patches,
opened a beautiful deep bay, that had an appearance of great
fertility.  Soon afterwards, an Englishman came on board, and offered
to pilot us in.  He had not advanced far with the vessel, before she
grounded on a bank of coral, but fell off immediately, on putting the
helm down and throwing all aback.  We were everywhere surrounded by
shoals of coral, and fearful of accidents, came to outside of the
harbour, where we had ten fathoms of water on one side, and five on
the other.  The boats were sent off immediately, in search of tarrow.
It was planted everywhere, in large patches, where there was a small
valley, through which a stream of water found its way from the
mountains to the sea, and at a distance, the hills were green with
another species we had not before seen, called mountain tarrow.  The
latter is superior to the low land tarrow, and will keep longer at
sea.

When we landed in the bay, which was several miles deep, we found two
different missionary establishments, occupied by natives of Otaheite.
No one else, that we saw, seemed to have any authority.  They
permitted us to dig as much tarrow as we pleased, without asking any
return for it, and by night, we had as much on board as we knew what
to do with.  One of the missionary establishments was situated at the
extreme depth of the bay.  On landing there, I was met by the
missionaries themselves, and conducted to their house, where their
wives, who were also from Otaheite, received me, dressed in their own
island costume, with large straw bonnets on their heads.  After
remaining with them for a few minutes, I repaired to the place where
the boats' crew were employed in collecting tarrow.  A group of
natives, male and female, had assembled round, none of whom, could be
prevailed upon by the rewards we offered them, to assist our people
in their occupation.  They had a sickly look, almost without an
exception.  Their dress differed altogether from any we had before
seen.  It consisted of a heavy mat of grass, weighing from ten to
fifteen pounds, which was thrown over their shoulders, and another
light mat of the same material, for the loins.  Their deportment was
modest and retiring, and they evinced a disposition to have but
little intercourse with us.  A few of their houses were scattered
about upon the hills.  They were extremely miserable, and might,
without disparagement, be compared to dog kennels.  They were long,
and very narrow, and about three or four feet high, so that when one
entered them, it was necessary to get down upon the hands and knees.
The Otaheite missionaries were distinguished from the natives, by
wearing the tappa cloth, of their own island, and an old cloth jacket
they had obtained from white visiters.  I added something to their
stock of clothes, before I took leave of them, for which, they gave
me many thanks.  When I returned on board, I found the other two
missionaries there, and several of the natives, who had accompanied
the captain.  They spent the night with us, and the next morning,
showed us where to obtain a quantity of the mountain tarrow.  It is
large, and very much resembles the West India yam.  For a vessel long
at sea, and requiring vegetables, there is none more valuable.

The Englishman who came on board to act as our pilot, was residing at
the island, in charge of a party which had been left there by the
English Consul at the Sandwich Islands, to collect beach la mer, a
valuable article of commerce, at Canton.  The collecting of
sandal-wood, was also to be an object of their attention; but they
told us, that both were scarce, and difficult to obtain--a statement,
we considered, of doubtful veracity.

At 2, P.M., on the 27th of June, we got underway, and made sail for
Valparaiso, which is distant from Oparro, about three thousand five
hundred miles.  This island, which is called by the discoverer,
Oparro, is called by the natives, Lapa.  It is situated in latitude
27 degrees 34 minutes south, west longitude 144 degrees.  At 5, P.M.,
we saw the islands, called by Quiros, Los Corones, and hauled up,
until eight, to clear them.

For the first three days after we sailed, it blew a severe gale from
the westward, after which, it became more moderate, but nearly all
our passage to Valparaiso, was wet and boisterous.  It was less
disagreeable, however, than we anticipated, as the wind was almost
constantly fair.  We had the more reason to apprehend a severe trial
of our fortitude, as it was in the dead of winter that we were
advancing into a high latitude, after having been a long time within
the tropics, and besides that, our sails and rigging were very much
worn, some of our articles of provisions were quite exhausted, and
others, of the first necessity, reduced to a small quantity.  If,
therefore, we had encountered tedious gales ahead, we must have
suffered greatly in our shattered and ill-fitted condition.

At 4, P.M., on the 19th of July, we made the island of Mas a Fuera,
on the coast of Chili, seventy miles from us, and at midnight, passed
close to it.  At day-light, Juan Fernandes, was in sight, fifty miles
off.  We passed it a little after meridian.  It is very mountainous,
but well covered with trees.  The interesting fable of Robinson
Crusoe's adventures, has given it a lasting fame, and rendered it an
object of curiosity to all who visit this part of the Pacific Ocean.
It is very fertile, and has been tolerably well cultivated.  The
Spanish captain-general of Chili, formerly made it a place of
banishment, and after the revolution took place in that country, it
was appropriated to the same purpose, by the patriots and royalists,
as they alternately came into power.  A considerable town was built
by the exiles, who were sent there at different times, and the finest
fruits of Chili are produced in great abundance.  The cattle that
have been left upon the island, are running wild in large herds, and
several persons have found it profitable to send parties there to
kill them for their hides.  The island produces some sandal-wood, but
it is small, and has never been collected in large quantities.

Fish, that very much resemble our codfish, and a variety of other
kinds are taken in the greatest abundance around Juan Fernandez and
Mas a Fuera.  It is believed that if a fishery were established there
by some of our enterprising countrymen, it would be found a source of
great emolument.  The privileges that might be considered necessary
for the prosperity of a company formed with this object, could easily
be obtained from the government of Chili, and there is no apparent
cause why the most successful results should not be realized.  It
seems only necessary to call the attention of our capitalists to this
subject, to have all its advantages secured to our country.  It has a
fine harbour for the prevailing winds of summer, but in the winter
season, when the winds set in from the northward, it is exposed.  It
lies a little more than three hundred miles from the coast of Chili,
and in the summer months I have known open boats to pass between it
and Valparaiso.

On the 23d of July, we anchored in the harbour of Valparaiso, a
little before day-light, to the gratification of our friends, who
were becoming very much alarmed for our safety, no information of us
having been received during the whole period of our absence.  Thus,
in a vessel of 180 tons burthen, poorly fitted, and having on board
only about four months' provisions, when we sailed from the coast of
Peru, we performed a cruise of upwards of eleven months in an
unfrequented Ocean, rendering to our countrymen, and many of the
people whom we visited, important benefits, besides realizing the
most successful results in the primary object of our cruise.  Its
beneficial effects will long be felt by our countrymen, who are
engaged in the whale-fishery; and, although we suffered many
hardships, privations, and dangers, we were happy in being the
instruments, in the hands of Providence and our government, of
proving that crime cannot go unpunished in the remotest part of the
earth, and that no situation is so perilous as to justify despair.



[1] A tree that resembles the locust.  It bears a pod, like that of a
bean, which is given by the Peruvians to their horses.

[2] A retail grocery and tippling shop.

[3] Spirits distilled from the grape.

[4] Mattee, mattee--Very bad.

[5] Very good, or very well.

[6] Don't you want a wife?

[7] Com. Porter.

[8] A bird commonly called the sand-snipe.  We afterwards saw them so
frequently at sea, where no land was known to exist, that their
presence produced no other interest than would have arisen from the
appearance of a gull, or any other aquatic bird.

[9] When the steward was informed of his sentence, he asked Comstock
how long a time he would give him to make his peace with
God?--"Fourteen seconds!" was the reply.

[10] Tamon, High Chief.

[11] Called the Reef Chain Tide Islands.

[12] Lay witnessed the execution of a man during his residence at the
Mulgraves.  I do not remember the nature of his offence.  He was not
bound, or in any way confined; but, after it was determined that he
should die, several men attacked him with spears and stones.  He
fought desperately to the last, although his situation was altogether
hopeless, freely bestowing upon his enemies the epithets of cowards
and murderers.  Even when he could no longer resist, his spirit was
unconquered,--and he breathed his last, with expressions of scorn and
hatred on his lips.

[13] Lay frequently saw the people, who performed the execution I
have mentioned in a former note, throw away portions of their food,
as an offering to the spirit of him they had slain.

[14] Crimacu, as it is pronounced by the natives.  The missionaries
write his name Karaimoku.





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