In the morning Of the 25th, I ordered Mr. Gore, one of
the mates, with all the marines, forty feamen, and four
nudfhipmen, to go up the yalley by the river as high as fhey
coiild, Arid examine the foil and produce o f the countr'y,
noting the trees and plants which they fhould find, and
when they faw any ftream from thé mountains, to trace it
to its .lourcc, and öbfèrve whether it was tinctured with any
mineral or ore. I cautioned them alio to keep continually
Upon théif guard agaihfi thé natives, and directed them to
make a fire, as a fignal, i f they fhould be attacked. At the
fame time, I took a guard on fhofè, and erected a tent on a
point o f land, to obferve an eclipfe o f the fun, which, the
nióming beihg very clèar, was done with great accuracy.
Hours. Min. Seconds.
The Immerfion began, by true time, at 6 51
The emerfioli, by true time, was at 8 1 o
The duration o f the eclipfe was - i g , 5 '
The latitude o f the point, on which the obfervation was
made, was 170 30 S. the fun’s declination was i9°4o'N. and
the variation o f the needle 5° 36' Ë.
After the obfervation was taken, I went to the queen’s
houfe, and fhewed her the telefcope, which was a -reflector.
After fhe had admired its ftruélure, I endeavoured to make
her comprehend its ufe, and fixing it fo as to command
feveral diftant objects, with which fhe was well acquainted,
but which could not be diftinguifhed witli the naked eye, I
made her look through it. As foon as fhe faw them, fhe
ftarted back with aftonifhment, and directing her eye as the
glafs was pointed, flood fome time motionlefs and filent;
fhe then looked through the glafs again, and again fought
in vain, with the naked eye, for the objects which it difeo-
vered. As they by turns yanifhed and re appeared, her
countecountenance
and geftures exprefied a mixture o f wonder >767-
and delight which no language can deferibe. When the ■ a]y'_-
glafs was removed, I invited her, and feveral of the Chiefs Saturda725'
that were with her, to go with me on board the fhip, in
which I had a view to the fecurity of the party that I had
fen tout; f o r i thought that ’while the qugen, and the principal
people were known to be in my power, nothing would
be attempted againft any perfon belonging to the fhip on
fhore. When we got on board, I ordered a good dinner for
their entertainment, but -the queen would neither eat nor
drink; the people that were with her eat very heartily of
whatever was fet before them, but would drink only plain
water.
In the evening our people returned from their excurfion,
and came down to the beach, upon which I put the queen
and her attendants into the boats, and fent them on fhore.
As fhe was going over the fhip’s fide, fhe afked, by figns,
whether I ftill perfifted in my refolution of leaying the ifland
at the time I had fixed; and when I pciade her .underhand
that it was impoffible I fhould flay longer, file exprefied her
regret by a flood of tears, which for a while took away her
fpeech. As foon as her paffion fubfided, fhe told me that
fhe would come on board again the next day, and thus we
parted.
K k 2 C H A P .