*m~ inftinCts ; the New Zeeland dogs are fed on the remains
J of their mailers’ meals ; they eat‘the bones of other dogs,
and the puppies become true cannibals from their birth..
We had a youttg New Zeeland puppy on board, which had'
certainly had no opportunity of tailing any thing but the'
mother’s milk before we purchafed i t ; however it eagerly
devoured a portion of the flefli and bones of the dog, on
which we dined to-day ; while feveral others of the European
breed taken on- board at the Cape, turned from, it
without touching it.
U | P a We kept ftanding, to the fouth-eaftward till the irfth.
at noon, attended by numerous birds of the petrel and
albatrofs kind, together with now and then a ikua, or Port-
• Egmont hen. Beds o f fea-weeds frequently were feen.
floating on the fea, but we were now too much accuftomed
to their appearance, to attempt to-draw any conclufions
from it. The thermometer, which at our departure from
New Zeeland, flood at j.i 0 at eight o’clock in the morning,,
funk in proportion as we came to the fouthward to 4 8 °,,
and fometimes to 4 7 ° at the fame time of day;, but the
temperature of the air upon the- whole was extremely
variable, and the weather equally unfettled. From thence
it arofe,. that we daily obferved rainbows, or parts of them
about the horizon, efpecially in. the morning. The wind
during this time was likewife. very changeable, and veered
round the compafs in a. direction contrary to the courfe
of
©f the fun, that is, from weft round by the north to-
wards eaft, and fo further on; but it chiefly prevailed from
the eafterly quarter, where we leaft expe&ed it, fo that our
fituation became tedious, and was made more irkfome by
frequent fogs, rains, and heavy fwells. Having reached
the latitude of 46° 1 7' fouth, we diredled our courfe to
the north-eaftward, as much as the wind would permit.
On the’ 2,3 d, the weather being mild and the Wind'
very moderate, captain Furneaux came on board, and dined
with us. He acquainted captain Cook, that all his people
continued in» good health,, except one or two, who were
infeefted with a naufeous difeafe, which is propagated by.
connections with the other fex. This information gave us
great uneafinefs, it being evident that the diftemper had
already reached New Zeeland, finee our men muft have
received it there. Struck with the horrid confequenees
which this evil would entail on the New Zeelanders, we'
recapitulated the opportunities which thofe people had of
catching the infection from Europeans. The firft dif-
eoverer of this country, in 164.2, Abel Janflen Tafman,.
had not the leaft amicable intercourfe with the inhabitants,
and none of his people appear to have been afhore upon
it. Captain Cook, the next navigator, who vifited it in the
Endeavour Bark, 1769 and 1770, came from O-Taheitee'
and the Society Ifles,. where feveral of his people had contracted
venereal-complaints. However, as his pafiage laftedi
nearly