C H A P, VII.
An Account of an Expedition to difcover the inland' Part
of the Country, and our other TranfaEtions, till <we quitted
the I f and to continue, our Voyage.
A F TE R the mate -came on board,' he gave me a written
d V account of his expedition, to the'following cfTeel:
“ At four o’clock in the morning, o f Saturday the a jth o f
June, I landed, with four midfhipmen, a ferjeant and twelve
marines, and twenty-four fcamen, all armed, befideS four
who'carried ha’tchers'arid other articles o f traffic, arid four
who were loaded With ammunitiori and pfbvifibnsj the reft
being left with the boat: every man had his day’s allowance
o f brandy, and the hatchet men two fmall kegs, to g h e out
when Ifliould think proper.
| As foon as I got on fliore, I called upon our old man,
and took him with u s : we then followed the courfe of the
river in two parties, one marching on each fide. For the firft
two miles it flowed through a valley o f confiderable width,
in which were many habitations, with gardens walled in,
and abundance of hogs, poultry, and fruit; the foil here
feemed to be a rich fat earth, and was of a blackilh colour.
After this the valley became very narrow, and the ground
riling abruptly on one fide o f the river, we were all obliged
to march on the other. Where the ftream was precipitated
from the hills, channels had been cut to lead the water into
gardens and plantations o f fruit trees; in thefe gardens we
found an herb which had never been brought down to the
water-ride, and which we perceived the inhabitants eat raw. jm
I tailed it, and found it pleafant, its flavour fomewhat re- < •
fembling that of the Weft Indian fpinnage, called Calleloor, Saturday 2s«
though its leaf was very different. The ground was fenced
off fo as to make a very pretty appearance; the bread-fruit
and apple-trees were planted in rows on the declivity o f the
hills, and the cocoa-nut and plantain, which require more
moifture, on the level ground : under the trees, both ori the
lides and at the foot of the hills, there was very good grafsj
but no underwood-. As-we advanced, the windings o f the
ftream became innumerable, the hills on each fide dwelled
into mountains, and vaft crags every where preje&ed over
our heads. Travelling now became difficult, and when
we had proceeded about four miles, the road’ for the' laft
mile, having been very bad, we fat down to reft ourfelves,-
and take the refrelhment of our breakfaft; we ranged our-
felves upon the ground under a large apple tree, in a very
pleafant fp ot; but juft as we were about to begin ourrepaft,
we were fuddenly alarmed by a confufed found of many
voices, and a great fhouting, and prefently afterwards faw a
multitude o f men, women, and children upon the hill
above u s ; our old man feeing us rife haftily, and look to
our arms, beckoned to us to fit ftill, and immediately went
up to the people that had furprifed us.- As foori as he joined:
them they were dent, and foon after difappeared; in a lliort
time, however, they returned, and brought with them a
large' hog ready roafted, with plenty of bread-fruit, yams,
and other refrelhments, which they gave to the old man,
who diftributed them among our people. In return for this
treat, I gave them fome nails, buttons, and other things,
with which they were greatly delighted. After this we
proceeded up the valley as far as we could, fearching all the-
runs of water, and all the places where water had run, for