120 (COMMODORE BYRON’ s VOYAGE
1765- and fome of them fo large that a carcafs frequently weighed
■ two hundred pounds. We killed them without much difficulty,
but a Black belonging to the Tamar contrived a method
to fnare them, fo that we took great numbers o f them
alive, which was an unfpeakable advantage;; for it not only
enfured our eating the fleffi while it was fweet, but enabled
us to fend a good number of them on board as fea-ftores.
In the mean time we were very defirous o f procuring
fome beef in an eatable Hate, with lefs rilk and labour, and
Mr. Gore, one o f our Mates, at laft, difcovered a pleafant fpot
upon the north weft part o f the ifland, where cattle were in
great plenty, and whence they might be brought to the'
tents by fea. To this place therefore I difpatehed a party,
with a tent for their accommodation, and fent the boats
every day to fetch what they fhould k ill; fometimes however
there broke fuch a fea upon the rocks that it was irn-
poffible to approach them, and the Tamar’s boat unhappily
loft three o f her belt men by attempting it. We were now,
upon the whole, pretty well fupplied with provifions, efpe-
cially as we baked frefh bread every day for the lick; and
the fatigue o f our people being lefs, there were fewer ill
with the fev e r: but feveral o f them were fo much difor-
tlered by eating o f a very fine looking fiffi which we caught
here, that their recovery was for a long time doubtful
The Author o f the Account o f Lord Anfon’s Voyage fays,
that the people on board the Ceturion thought it prudent
to abftain from fiffi, as the few which they caught at their
firft arrival furfeited thofe who eat of them. But not attendin
g fufficiently to this caution, and too haftily taking the
word forfeit in its literal and common acceptation, we imagined
that thofe who tailed the fiffi when Lord Anfon firft
fame hither, were made lick merely by eating too much i
9 whereas.
whereas, i f that had been the cafe, there would have been
no reafon for totally abftaining afterwards, but only eating
temperately. We however bought our knowlege by experience,
which we might haye had cheaper; for though all
our people who tailed this fiffi, eat fparingly» they were all
foon afterwards dangeroully ill.
Befides the fruit that has been mentioned already, this
ifland produces cotton and indigo in abundance, and would
certainly be o f great value i f it was fituated in the Weft Indies.
The Surgeon o f the Tamar enclofed a large fpot of
ground here, and made a very pretty garden ; but we did
not Hay long enough to derive any advantage from it.
While we lay here, I fent the Tamar to examine the ifland
o f Saypan, which is much larger than Tinian, rifes higher,
and, in my opinion, has a much pleafanter appearance. She
anchored to the leeward of it, at the diftance of a mile
from the ffiore, and in about ten fathom Water, with much
the fame kind o f ground as we had in the road o f Tinian.
Her people landed upon a fine fandy beach which is fix or
feven miles long, and walked up into the woods, where they
faw many trees which were very fit for topmafts. They faw
no fowls, nor any tracks o f cattle; but of hogs and guani-
coes there was plenty. They found no frelh water near the
beach, but faw a large pond inland, which they did not examine.
They faw large heaps of pearl oyfter-ffiells thrown
up together, and other figns o f people having been there
not long before: poffibly the Spaniards may go thither at
fome feafons o f the year, and carry on a pearl fiffiery. They
alfo faw many o f thofe fquare pyramidal pillars which are
to be found at Tinian, and which are particularly defcribed
in the Account o f Lord Anfon’s Voyage.
1765.
Auguft.
Vot. r. R On