JU17I7r4Y-. nothing ; and as they continued to call us out of the wood,
we complied for fear of railing a new difturbance. The
wood which we had thus fuddenly quitted, was very dark
and interfperfed with bulhes. However, a broad mafs of
light in the interior parts, feemed to indicate a plantation,
which we fhould have reached, if we had not been too early
interrupted. The various voices of women and children,
which iffued from that fpot confirmed our conjecture. The
trees which grew in the wood, were in general Of well
known forts ; but among the under-woods there appeared
feveral forts hitherto unnoticed. From the fhip however,
we had perceived vaft numbers of coco-palms, fome bananas,
bread-fruit, and other valuable cultivated trees, of
which the natives had given us the names.
Captain Cook having in the mean while, afked for frefli
water, the perfon whom we fuppofed to be a chief, fent for
a calabalh full, which was very pure, and alfo prefented the
captain with a coco-nut j but in fpite of all our enquiries,
we could not prevail upon the natives to bring us any
more. A few of them wore a fmall bunch of greens on
their arm, which we knew to be part of an odoriferous
plant of a new genus, named cuodia (Forft. Nov. Gen.) Some
fuffered us to take and examine it, but others took it out
of our hands and threw it away, with an angry expreflion,
as if it was either noxious or ominous, We had frequently
.eaten the feeds -of this plant, which are finely aromatic,
without
without fuffering the leaft inconvenience, and were well
convinced, that the whole plant was very harmlefs ; but
whether it might not be a fign of enmity or defiance, in the
fame manner as many others are efteemed emblems of
friendfhip, muft remain in doubt.
The tide was now fo low, that the reef remained quite
dry behind us, and a great number of the natives had
walked over it to our boats, where they traded with the
crew. Being in fome meafure furrounded by thefe people,
the marines were placed alternately towards the Ihore and
the fea, in order to prefent a front both ways ; though it
did not appear that the natives had the leaft intention of
quarrelling with us. We converfed very freely with them,
and their tongues ran on with fuch unremitted volubility,
that we compared the noife about us, to the confufed uproar
in a great fair. Our aftonifhment therefore, may fooner be
conceived than defcribed, when this chattering ceafed all
at once, and a dead filence fucceeded.— We looked at each
other, we threw our eyes wildly about, and joined the wings
of our corps de garde. The • natives feemed to ftand in expectation
of fome mifchance ; but by degrees feeing us
quiet, .they began to talk again, and in a few minutes,
mutual confidence was reftored. The circumftance yvhich
had given rife to this alarm was trifling in itfelf, but ex-
prefled the good difpofition of the natives towards us. One
of our boat’s crew, had defired a native to flioot an arrow
V ol. II. F f into