67b
$Whi> ’^erte fearer to Supply tis With whatever we wanted, ahd
^September^ &lf& to d& more defifous of goods than money, In-
TlurTHay 20. improved the advantage that had been procured
them, and the market was flocked alinoft in an inftant. To
eftablifti a trade for buffaloes, however, which I moft wanted,
I found it ineceffary to give ten guineas Tor two, one of
Which •Weighed no more than a hundred and fixty pounds;
but I bought feven more much cheaper, and might afterwards
hav'e’purchafed as many as I pleated almoft upon my
oWn fertns, for they were how driven down to'the wafer-
fide in herd’s. In the fifth two that I bought fo dear, Lange
had PeftaMyU flfafe, and it was in hopes to obtain part of
the pried of others, that he had pretended we ihuft pay for
thbrn in gold. The natives however fold what they after-
W'ardshrought ddwnihuch to their latisfaSiiph, without paying
part Of the price to him as a reward for exadting money
from hs! 'Aiofl 'of ihe buffaloes that wte hbught,’-aTtef our
friend, the Prime Minifter, had procured us "a 'fair market,
Were fold for a mufquet a-pieCe, and at this price we might
ha^e bOilght as many as would have freighted our fhip.
The refreihments which we procured here, confifted of
nine buffaloes, fix flieep, three hogs, thirty dozen of fowls;
a few limes, and fome cocoa-nuts -, many dozen of eggs,
half of which however proved to be rotten ; a little garlic,
and feveral hundred .gallons of palm-fyrup.
CHAP;
G H A P. IX.
A particular Defcription o f the Ifland- of Savu, its "Produce
and Inhabitants, with a Specimen o f their Language.
THIS ifland is called by the natives S a v u ; the middle of 1770-
it lies in about the latitude io° 35' S., longitude 237°
W.; and has in general been fo little known that I never
Taw a map or chart in which it is clearly or accurately laid
down. I have’teen a Very old one, in which it is Called Sou,,
and confounded with Sandel Bofeh. llutnphiUs mentions
an ifland by thename ofSaow ; add he alfofays that it is the
fame Which the Dutch call Sandel Bofeh : but neither is this
ifland, nor Timor, nor Rotte, nor indeed any one of the iflands
that we have Teen in thefe Teas, placed within a reafonable
diftance o f its true fituation. It is about eight leagues long
from eaft to weft; but what is its breadth, I do not know, as
I faw only the north fide. The harbour in which we, lay is
called Seba, from the diftriCt in which it lies: it is on the-
north weft fide of the ifland, and well fheltered from the
fouth weft trade wind, but it lies open to the north weft. We
were told, that there were two other bays where fhips might
anchor; that the beft, called Tirno, was on the Touth weft
fide o f the fouth eaft point r of the third we learnt, neither
the name nor fituation. The fea-coaft, in general, is low ;
but in the middle of the ifland there are hills of a confide-
rable height. We were upon the coaft at the latter end of
the dry feafon, when there had been no rain for feven-
months; and we were told that when the dry feafon conti-
2 nuea