1

nights, which now happened, at seven a. m. on the 23d, we weighed; and, with a light air of wind, and the assistance of our boats, proceeded out of the harbour, the south end of which, at noon, bore W.S.W., distant about two miles.

When the natives saw us under sail, they came off in canoes, making exchanges with more confidence than before, and giving such extraordinary proofs of their honesty as surprised us. As the ship, at first, had fresh way through the water, several of them dropped astern after they had received our goods, and before they had time to deliver theirs in return. Instead of taking advantage of this, as our friends at the Society Isles would have done, they used their utmost efforts to get up with us, and to deliver what they had already been paid for. One man, in particular, followed us a considerable time, and did not reach us till it was calm, and the thing was forgotten. As soon as he came alongside he held up the thing which several were ready to buy; but he refused to part with it, till he saw the person to whom he had before sold it, and to him he gave it. The person, not knowing him again, offered him something in return, which he refused, and shewed him what he had given him before. Pieces of cloth, and marble paper, were in most esteem with them; but edge-tools, nails, and beads, they seemed to disregard. The greatest number of canoes we had alongside at once did not exceed eight, and not more than four or five people in each, who would frequently retire to the shore all on a sudden, before they had disposed of half their things, and then others would come off.

At the time we came out of the harbour, it was about low water, and great numbers of people were then on the shoals or reefs which lie along the shore, looking, as we supposed, for shell and other fish. Thus our being on their coast, and in one of their ports, did not hinder them from following the necessary employments. By this time they might be satisfied we meant them no harm; so that, had we made a longer stay, we might soon have been upon good terms with this ape-like nation. For, in general, they are the most ugly, ill-proportioned people I ever saw, and in every respect different from any we had met with in this sea. They are a very dark-coloured and rather diminutive race; with long heads, flat faces, and monkey countenances. Their hair mostly black or brown, is short and

curly;

curly; but not quite so soft and woolly as that of a negroe. Their beards are very strong, crisp, and bushy, and generally black and short. But what most adds to their deformity, is a belt or cord which they wear round the waist, and tie so tight over the belly, that the shape of their bodies is not unlike that of an overgrown pismire. The men go quite naked, except a piece of cloth or leaf used as a wrapper.+

We saw but few women, and they were not less ugly than the men; their heads, faces, and shoulders, are painted red; they wear a kind of petticoat; and some of them had something over their shoulders like a bag, in which they carry their children. None of them came off to the ship, and they generally kept at a distance when we were on shore. Their ornaments are ear-rings, made of tortoise-shell and bracelets. A curious one of the latter, four or five inches broad, wrought with thread or cord, and studded with shells, is worn by then just above the elbow. Round the right wrist they wear hogs' tusks, bent circular, and rings made of shells; and round their left, a round piece of wood, which we judged was to ward off the bow-string. The bridge of the nose is pierced, in which they wear a piece of white stone, about an inch and a half long. As signs of friendship they present a green branch, and sprinkle water with the hand over the head.

Their weapons are clubs, spears, and bows and arrows. The two former are made of hard or iron-wood. Their bows are about four feet long, made of a stick split down the middle, and are not circular. The arrows, which are a sort of reeds, are sometimes armed with a long and sharp point, made of the hard wood, and sometimes with a very hard point made of bone; and these points are all covered with a substance which we took for poison. Indeed the people

The particular manner of applying the wrapper may be seen in Wafer's voyage, who mentions this singular custom as existing, though with some little variation, amongst the Indians of the Isthmus of Darien. See Wafer's Voyage, p. 140.

Mr G. F. tells us that these people increased their disagreeable appearance, by painting their faces and breasts with a black colour. A few of them, he says, had a small cap on the head, made of matted work. This gentleman speaks highly of the extensive faculties and quick apprehension of these people, low enough as they must be ranked in the scale of personal beauty; he admits, however, that their skill in the arts is inconsiderable, and their civilization very imperfect.-E.

people themselves confirmed our suspicions, by making signs to us not to touch the point, and giving us to understand that if we were prickled by them we should die. They are very careful of them themselves, and keep them always wrapped up in a quiver. Some of these arrows are formed with two or three points, each with small prickles on the edges, to prevent the arrow being drawn out of the

wound.

The people of Mallicollo seemed to be a quite different nation from any we had yet met with, and speak a different language. Of about eighty words, which Mr Forster collected, hardly one bears any affinity to the language spoken at any other island or place I had ever been at. The letter R is used in many of their words; and frequently two or three being joined together, such words we found difficult to pronounce. I observed that they could pronounce most of our words with great ease. They express their admiration by hissing like a goose.

To judge of the country by the little water we saw of it, it must be fertile; but I believe their fruits are not so good as those of the Society or Friendly Isles. Their cocoa-nut trees, I am certain, are not; and their bread-fruit and plantains did not seem much better. But their yams appeared to be very good. We saw no other animals than those I have already mentioned. They have not so much as a name for a dog, and consequently have none, for which reason we left them a dog and a bitch; and there is no doubt they will be taken care of, as they were very fond of them.s

After

5 "The productions of Mallicollo are less remarkable and striking at first sight than the race of its inhabitants. To judge of their numbers from the crowd we saw at Port Sandwich, I should conclude, that they are far from inconsiderable; but considering the great size of the island, Í cannot suppose it to be very populous. Fifty thousand is, I think, the greatest number we can admit, and these are not confined to the skirts of the hills, as at Otaheite, but dispersed over the whole extent of more than six hundred square miles. We ought to figure their country to ourselves as one extensive forest: They have only begun to clear and plant a few insulated spots, which are lost in it, like small islands in the vast Pacific Ocean. Perhaps if we could ever penetrate through the darkness which involves the history of this nation, we might find that they have arrived in the South Sea much later than the natives of the Friendly and Society Isles. So much at least is certain, that they appear to be of a race totally distinct from these. Their form, their language, and their manners,

strongly

After we had got to sea, we tried what effect one of the poisoned arrows would have on a dog. Indeed we had tried it in the harbour the very first night, but we thought the operation was too slight, as it had no effect. The surgeon now made a deep incision in the dog's thigh, into which he laid a large portion of the poison, just as it was scraped from the arrows, and then bound up the wound with a bandage. For several days after we thought the dog was not so well as it had been before, but whether this was really so, or only suggested by imagination, I know not. He was afterwards as if nothing had been done to him, and lived to be brought home to England. However, I have no doubt of this stuff being of a poisonous quality, as it could answer no other purpose. The people seemed not unacquainted with the nature of poison, for when they brought us water on shore, they first tasted it, and then gave us to understand we might with safety drink it.

This harbour, which is situated on the N.E. side of Mallicollo, not far from the S. E. end, in latitude 16° 25′ 20′′ S., longitude 167° 57′ 23′′ E., I named Port Sandwich. It lies in S.W. by S. about one league, and is one-third of a league broad. A reef of rocks extends out a little way from each point, but the channel is of a good breadth, and hath in it from forty to twenty-four fathoms water. In the port, the depth of water is from twenty to four fathoms; and it is so sheltered that no winds can disturb a ship at anchor there. Another great advantage is, you can lie so near the shore, as to cover your people, who may be at work upon it.

SECTION

and completely mark the difference. The natives on some parts of New Guinea and Papua, seem to correspond in many particulars with what we have observed among the Mallicollese. The black colour and woolly hair in particular are characteristics common to both nations. The slender form of the Mallicolese is a character, as far as I know, peculiar to them and the New Zealanders; but that nation hath nothing in common with them in all other respects. The features of these people, though remarkably irregular and ugly, yet are full of great sprightliness, and express a quick comprehension. Their lips, and the lower part of their face, are entirely different from those of African negroes; but the upper part, especially the nose, is of very similar conformation, and the substance of the hair is the same. The climate of Mallicollo, and the adjacent islands, is very warm, but perhaps not at all times so temperate as at Otaheite, because the extent of land is vastly greater. However, during our short stay, we experienced no unusual degree of heat, the thermometer being at 76° and 780, which is very moderate in the torrid zone.”—G. F.

SECTION IV.

An Account of the Discovery of several Islands, and an Interview and Škirmish with the Inhabitants upon one of them. The, Arrival of the Ship at Tanna, and the Reception we met with there.

SOON after we got to sea, we had a breeze at E.S.E. with which we stood over for Ambrym till three o'clock in the afternoon, when the wind veering to the E.N.E. we tacked and stretched to the S.E. and weathered the S.E. end of Mallicolo, off which we discovered three or four small islands, that before appeared to be connected. At sun-set the point bore S. 77° W., distant three leagues, from which the coast seemed to trend away west. At this time, the isle of Ambrym extended from N. 3o E. to N. 65° E. The isle of Paoon from N. 76° E. to S. 88° E.; and the isle of Apee from S. 83° E. to S. 43° E. We stood for this last isle, which we reached by midnight, and then brought-to till day-break on the 24th, when we made sail to the S.E., with a view of plying up to the eastward on the south side of Apee. At sun-rise we discovered several more islands, extending from the S.E. point of Apee to the south as far as S.E. by S. The nearest to us we reached by ten o'clock, and not being able to weather it, we tacked a mile from its shore in fourteen fathoms water. This island is about four leagues in circuit, is remarkable by having three high peaked hills upon it, by which it has obtained that name. In the p. m. the wind veering more to the north, we resumed our course to the east; and having weathered Threehills, stood for the group of small isles which lie off the S.E. poin: of Apee. These I called Shepherd's Isles, in honour of my worthy friend Dr Shepherd, Plumian professor of astronomy at Cambridge. Having a fine breeze, I had thoughts of going through between them; but the channels being narrow, and seeing broken water in the one we were steering for, I gave up the design, and bore up, in order to go without, or to the south of them. Before this could be accomplished, it fell calm, and we were left to the mercy of the current, close to the isles, where we could find no soundings with a line of an hundred and eighty fathoms. We had now

Jand