account of their fingularity, efpecially as I find they are
not mentioned in the narrative of my former voyage.
The wattle-bird, fo called becaufe it has two wattles under
its beak as large as thofe of a fmall dunghill cock, is
larger, particularly in length, than an Englifh black-bird.
Its bill is fhort and thick, and its feathers of a dark lead colour
; the colour of its wattles is a dull yellow, almoft an
orange colour.
The poy-bird is lefs than the wattle-bird. The feathers
of a fine mazarine blue, except thofe of its neck, which
are of a moil beautiful filver-grey, and two or three fhort
white ones, which are on the pinion joint of the wing. Under
its throat hang two little tufts of curled, fnow-white
feathers, called its poles, which being the Otaheitean word
for ear-rings, occafioned our giving that name t6 the bird;
which is not more remarkable for the beauty of its plumage
than for the fweetnefs of its note. The flefh is alfo molt
delicious, and was the greateft luxury the woods afforded
us.
Of the fan-tail, there are different forts, but the body of
the mofl remarkable one is fcarcely larger than a good
filbert, yet it fpreads a tail of moft beautiful plumage, full
three quarters of a femi-circle, of at leaft four or five
inches radius.
For three or four days after we arrived in Pickerfgill Harbour,
and as we were clearing the woods to fet up our
tents, &c. a four-footed animal was feen by three or four
of our people, but as no two gave the fame defcription of
it, I cannot fay of what kind it is. All, however, agreed, that
it was about the fize of a cat, with fhort legs, and of a
moufe colour. One of the feamen, and he who had the
2 bell
bell view of it, faid it had a bufhy tail, and was the moft
like a jackall of any animal he knew. The moft probable
conjefture is, that it is of a new fpecies. Be this as it may,
we are now certain, that this country is not fo deftitute of
quadrupeds as was once thought. -
The moft mifchievous animals here, are the fmall black
fand flies, which are very numerous, and fo troublefome,
that they exceed every thing of the kind I ever met with.
Wherever they bite they caufe a fwelling, and fuch an in-,
tolerable itching, that it is not poflible to refrain from
.fcratching, which at laft brings on ulcers like the fmall-
pox.
The almoft continual rains may be reckoned another evil
attending this bay; though perhaps this may only happen
at this feafon of the year. Neverthelefs, the fituation of
the country, the vaft height, and nearnefs of the mountains,
feem to fubjedt it to much rain at all times. Our
people, who were daily expofed to the rain, felt no ill
effects from i t ; on the contrary, fuch as were fick and ailing
when we came in, recovered daily, and the whole crew
foon became ftrong and vigorous ; which can only be attributed
to the healthinefs of the place, and the frefh pro-
vifions it afforded. The beer certainly contributed not a
little. As I have already obferved, we at firft made it of a
decoftion of the fpruce leaves; but finding that this alone
made the beer too aftringent, we afterwards mixed with it
an equal quantity of the tea plant (a name it obtained
in my former voyage from our uling it as tea then, as
we alfo did now) which partly deftroyed the aftringency of
the other, and made the beer exceedingly palatable, and
efteemed by every one on board. We brewed it in the fame
O a manner