January vince anY European who fhould come to the place and pull
—----- 1 it down, that other natives of Europe had been there before
nday 2 ’ him. When this was done, we defcended the hill, and made
a comfortable meal of the lhaggs and fifh which our guns and
lines had procured us, and which were drefled by the boat’s
crew in a place that we had appointed: in this place we
found another Indian family, who received us, as ufual,
with ftrong expreffions of kindnefs and pleafure, fhewing us
where to procure water, and doing us fuch other good offices
as were in their power. From this" place we went to the
town, of which the Indians had told us, who vifited us on
the 19th: this, like that which we had feen before, was
built upon a fmall illand or rock, fo difficult of accefs, that
we gratified our curiofity at the rilk of our necks, i The Indians
here alfo received us with open arms, carried us to
every part of the place, and fhewed us all that it contained:
this town, like the other, confided of between eighty and an
hundred houfes, and had only one fighting-ftage. We happened
to. have with us a few nails and ribands, and fome
paper, with which our guefts were fo gratified, that at our
coming away they filled our boat with dried filh, of which
we perceived they had laid up great quantities..
Sunday^!.* Tlle 2?th atld 2Stl1 were fpent in refitting the Ihip for the
fea, fixing a tranfom for the tiller, getting ftones on board to
put into the bottom of the bread-room, to bring the lhip
more by the ftern, in repairing the calks, and catching fifh.
Monday zg. On the 29th, we received a vifit from our old man, whofe
name we found to be T opa a , and three other natives, with
whom Tupia had much converfation. The old man told us,
that one of the men who had been fired upon by the officer
who had vifited their Hippah, under pretence of fifhing, was
dead; but to my great comfort I afterwards difcovered that
this report was not true, and that i f Topaa’s difcourfes were
taken
taken literally, they would frequently lead us into miftakes.
Mr. Banks and Dr. Solandec were .feveral times on fhore >-------->
- • , , - r , Monday zg.,
during the laft two or three days, not without fuccefs, but
greatly circumfcribed in their walks by climbers of a molt
luxuriant growth, which were fo interwoven together, as to
fill up the fpace between the trees about which they grew,
and render the woods altogether iropaffable. This day alfo
I went on fhore again myfelf, upon the weftern point of the
inlet, and from a hill of confiderable height, I had a view
of the coaft to the N. W, The fartheft land I could fee in
that quarter, was an ifland which has been mentioned before,
at the diftance of about ten leagues, lying not far from
the main: between this ifland and the place where I flood, I
difcovered, clofe under the fhore, feveral other iflands, forming
many bays, in which there appeared to be-good anchorage
for fhipping. After I had fet off the different points
for my furvey, I eredted another pile of ftones, in which I
left a piece of filver coin, with fome mufket balls and beads,
and a piece of an old pendant flying on the top. In my return
to the fhip, I made a vifit to feveral of the natives,
whom I faw along the fhore, and purchafed a fmall quantity
of fifh.
On the 30th, early in the morning, I fent a boat to one of Tuefday 30.
the iflands for celery, and while the people were gathering
it, about twenty of the natives, men, women, and children,
landed near fome empty huts: as foon as they were on
fhore, five or fix of the women fat down upon the ground
together, and began to cut their legs, arms, and faces, with
fhells, and ffiarp pieces of talc or jafper, in a terrible manner.
Our people underftood that their hufbands had lately
been killed by their enemies; but while they were performing
this horrid ceremony, the men fet about repairing the
huts, with the utmoft negligence and unconcern.
The