1773. Attago was very importunate with me to return again to
. fl”ber*, thjs and to bring with me cloth, axes, nails, 8cc. 8cc.
Thurfday 7. m e that j fljould have hogs, fowls, fruit, and roots,
in abundance. He particularly delired me, more than once,
to bring him fuch a fuit of clothes as I had on, which was
my uniform. This good-natured iflander was very fervice-
able to me, on many occafions, during our fhort ftay. He
conftantly came on board every morning foon after it was
light, and never quitted us till the evening. He was always
ready, either on board or on fhore, to do me all the fervice
in his power: his fidelity was rewarded at a fmall expence;
and I found my account in having fuch a friend.
In heaving in the coafting cable, it parted in the middle
of its length, being chaffed by the rocks. By this accident
we loft the other half, together with the anchor, which lay
in forty fathoms water, without any buoy to it. The beft
bower cable fuffered alfo by the rocks; by which a judgment
may be formed of this anchorage. At ten o’clock we
got under fail; but as our decks were much encumbered
with fruit, &c. we kept plying under the land till they were
cleared. The fupplies we got at this ifle were about one
hundred and fifty pigs, twice that number of fowls, as many
bananoes and cocoa-nuts as we could find room for, with a
few yams; and had our ftay been longer, we, no doubt,
might have got a great deal more. This, in fome degree,
fhews the fertility of the ifland, of which, together with the
neighbouring one of Middleburg, I fhall now give a more
particular account,
CH A P .
CHAP . III.
A Defcription o f the Ijlands and their Produce, with the
Cultivation, Houfes, Canoes, Navigation, Manufactures,
Weapons, Cufoms, Government, Religion, and L anguage
o f the Inhabitants.
THESE iflands were firft difcovered by Captain Tafman |l|||
in January 1642-3; and, by him, called Amfterdam 1---■—
and Middleburg. But the former is called by the natives
Ton-ga-ta-bu, and the latter Ea-oo-wee. They are fituated
between the latitude of 210 29'and 210 3' South, and be
tween the longitude of 1740 40' and 175° 15'Weft, deduced
from obfervations made on the fpot.
Middleburg, or Eaoowee, which is the fouthernmoft, is about
ten leagues in circuit, and of a height fufficient to be feen
twelve leagues. The fkirts of this ifle are moftly taken up
in the plantations; the S. W. and N. W. fides efpecially.
The interior parts are but little cultivated, though very fit
for cultivation. However, the want of it added greatly to
the beauty of the ifle; for here are, agreeably difperfed,
groves of cocoa-nut and other trees, lawns covered with
thick grafs, here and there plantations, and paths, leading
to every part of the ifland in fuch beautiful diforder, as
greatly enlivens the profpeft.
The anchorage, which I named Englifh Road (being the
firft who anchored there), is on the N. W. fide, in latitude
210 20' 30" South. The bearing we took when at anchor,
E e 2 already