O c*t7o74b*e r . the bottle with the letter was immediately found. In con-
fequence of this, captain Furneaux made all the necefiary
preparations for the remaining part of his voyage, in as little
time as poffible. His Ihip the Adventure was ready to
fail, when he fent a boat to Grafs Gove, on the eaftern fhore
of the Sound, in order to gather a load of celery and fcurvy-
grafs for the crew. Mr. Rowe, the unfortunate youth who
had the command of this boat, combined with many liberal
fentiments the prejudices of a naval education, which
induced him to look upon all the natives of the South Sea
with contempt, and to affume that kind of right over them,
with which the Spaniards, in more barbarous ages, difpofed
of the lives of the American Indians. After landing in
Grafs Cove, his people began to cut greens, and fome in all
probability ftripped off their cloaths, to perform their talk
with greater eafe ; for the accounts which we obtained from
the natives at Queen Charlotte's Sound import, that one of
their countrymen Hole a failor’s jacket; that our people
had hereupon immediately begun to fire, and continued to
do fo till all their ammunition was fpent; that the natives
had taken this opportunity to rulh upon the Europeans, and
had killed every one of them. This relation is very recon-
cileable with the opinion which the late Mr. Rowe always
entertained of the New Zeelanders, viz. that they would
never Hand the fire of European mulketry. He had before,
when at Tolaga Bay, been exceeding defirous of firing upon
them,
them, for having ftolen a fmall keg of brandy from the
boat’s crew ; but the judicious and humane advice of lieutenant
Burney checked his impetuofity. Captain Furneaux
finding that his boat did not return the next day, fent Mr.
Burney in another boat, well armed, to look after the former.
They foon reached the entrance of Eaft Bay, where
they obferved a canoe containing many natives, who at fight
•of them paddled away as fall as poffible. Our people made
after them, but the fear of being taken made the natives
jump overboard, and fwim to the ffiore. This behaviour
alarmed Mr. Burney, and his apprehenfions were but too
fully verified when he came up with the canoe. Here they
found feveral mangled limbs of their comrades, and fome
o f their cloaths. After rowing about fome time, they came
to Grafs Cove, towards feven in the evening, where they
faw a confiderable number of the natives alfembled, who
feemed prepared to oppofe them. The whole hill to the
top was covered with crouds of people, as m a fair, and
fmokes attended in feveral places, where they were probably
dreffing human fleffi. Horror chilled the failors blood
in their veins, but the next moment they glowed with the
fierce ardour of revenge, and cooler reafon was obliged to
give way to the powerful impulfe. They fired and killed
feveral of the natives, driving them at laft, but with great
difficulty, from the beach, and deftroying a great number
N n n a of
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Oc to b er .