junc lant^n£> I found the king, in the houfe adjoining
— j to our tent, along with our people who refided on fhore.
The moment I got to him, he bellowed upon me a prefent
of a large hog, and a quantity of yams. About the dulk
of the evening, a number of men came, and, having fat
down in a round group, begah to fing in concert with
the muiic of bamboo drums, which were placed in the
centre*. There were three long ones, and two lhort. With
thefe they ilruck the ground endwife, as before defcribed.
There were two others, which lay on the ground, fide by
fide, and one of them was fplit or ihivered; on thefe a man
' kept beating with two fmall flicks. They fung three fongs
while I flayed; and, I was told, that, after I left them, the
entertainment lafted till ten o’clock. They burnt the leaves
of the wharra palm for a ligh t; which is the only thing I
ever faw them make ufe of for this purpofe.
While I was palling the day in attendance on thefe great
men, Mr. Anderfon, with fome others, made an excurfion
into the country, which furnilhed him with the following
remarks : “ To the Weilward of the tent, the country is
totally uncultivated for near two miles, though quite covered
with trees and bufhes, in a natural ftate, growing
with the greateft vigour. Beyond this is a pretty large
plain, on which are fome cocoa-trees, and a few fmall
plantations that appear to have been lately made; and,
feemingly, on ground that has never been cultivated before.
Near the creek, which runs to the Weilward of the tent,
the land is quite flat, and partly overflowed by the fea every
* The fame fort of evening concert is performed round the houfe of the Chief, or
Tamale, at the Caroline Iflands. “ Le Tamole ne s’endort qu’au bruit d’un concert
“ de muiique que forme une troupe de jeunes gens, qui s’affemblent le foir, autour de
fa maifon, & qui chantent, a leur maniere, certaines poefies.” Let ires Edifiantes
& Curieujes, Tom. xv. p. 314..
tide.
tide. When that retires, the furface is feen to be cotnpofed
of-coral -rock, with holes of yellowifh mud feattered lap and
down ; and toward the edges, where it is a little firmer, are
innumerable little openings, from which iflue as many
fmall crabs, of two or three different forts, which fwarm
upon the fpot, as flies upon a carcafe; but are fo nimble,
that, on being approached, they difappear in an inflant, and
baffle even the natives to catch any of them.
At this place is a work of art, which ihews, that thefe people
are capable of fome defign, and perfeverance, when they
mean to accomplifh any thing. This work begins, on one fide,
as a narrow caufeway, which, becoming gradually broader,
rifes, with a gentle afcent, to the height of ,ten feet, where
it is five paces broad, and the whole length feventy-four
paces. Joined to this is a fort of circus, whofe diameter is
thirty paces,, and not above a foot or two higher than the
caufeway that joins it, with fome trees planted in the
middle. On the oppofite fide, another caufeway of the fame
fort defcends ; but this is not above forty paces long, and
is partly in ruin. The whole is built with large coral
ilones, with earth on the furface, which is quite overgrown
with low trees and ihrubs ; and, from its decaying in feve-
ral places, feems to be of no modern date. Whatever may
have been its ufe formerly, it feems to be of none now ;
and all that we could learn of it from the natives was, that
it belonged to Poulaho, and is called Etchee.”
On the i6th, in the morning, after vifiring the feveral Monday 16.
works now carrying on alhore, Mr. Gore, and I, took a walk
into the country; in the courfe of which nothing remarkable
appeared, but our having opportunities of feeing the
whole procefs of making cloth, which is the principal
Vol. I. P p manufacture