•during the day; fo that the end could not be obferved. The
•difappointment was of little confequence, fince the longitude
was more than fufficienfly determined, independently
o f this eclipfe, by lunar obfervations, which will be mentioned
hereafter.
As foon as we knew the eclipfe to be over, we packed up
the inftruments, took down the obfervatories, and fent every
thing on board that had not been already removed. As none
•of the natives had taken the leait notice or care of the three
Iheep allotted to Mareewagee, I ordered them to be carried
back to the fhips. I was apprehenfive, that, i f I had left
them here, they run great riik of being deftroyed by dogs.
That animal did not exift upon this iiland, when I firft vi-
fited it in 1773; but I now found they had got a good many,
partly from the breed then left bymyfelf, and partly
from fome, imported fince that time, from an iiland not
very remote, called Feejee. The dogs, however, at prefent,
had not found their way into any of the Friendly Iflands,
except Tongataboo; and none but the Chiefs there had, as
yet, got pofleflion of any.
B e in g now upon the eve o f our departure from this iiland,
I fhall add fome particulars about it, and its productions,
fo r which I am indebted to Mr. Anderfon. And, having fpent
as many weeks there, as I had done days * w h en I vifited it
,in 1773, the better opportunities that now occurred, o f gaining
more accurate information, and the ik ill o f that gentleman,
in directing his inquiries, w ill, in fome meafure, fup-
p ly the imperfection o f my former account o f this iiland.
“ Amfterdam, Tongataboo, or (as the natives alfo very
frequently called it) Tonga, is about twenty leagues in
* Ifr^m the 4th to the 7th o f O&ober.
circuir,
circuit, fomewhat oblong, though, by much, broadeil at tigfe
theEaftend; and its greateft length from Eaft to Weft. The e— ,—
South ihore, which I faw in 1773, is ftraight, and confifts of
coral rocks, eight or ten feet high, terminating perpendicularly,
except in fome places where it is interrupted by fmall
fandy beaches; on which, at low water, a range of black
rocks may be feen. The Weft end is not above five or fix
miles broad, but has a ihore fomewhat like that of the
South fide ; whereas the whole North fide is environed with
ihoals and iflands, and the ihore within ■ them low and
fandy; The Eaft fide or end is, moft probably, like the
South; as the ihore begins to afliime a rocky appearance,
toward the North Eaft point, though not above feven or
eight feet high. '
The iiland may, with the greateft propriety, be called a
low one, as the trees, on the Weft part, where we now lay
at anchor, only appeared; and the only eminent part,
which can be feen from a iliip, is the South Eaft point;
though many gently rifing and declining grounds are ob-
fervable by one who is aihore. The general appearance of
the country does not afford that beautiful kind of landfcape
that is produced from a variety of hills and valleys, lawns,
rivulets, and cafcades; but, at the fame time, it conveys to
the fpeftator an idea of the moft exuberant fertility, whether
we refpeft the places improved by art, or thofe ftill in
a natural ftate; both which yield all their vegetable productions
with the greateft vigour, and perpetual verdure.
At a diftance, the furface feems entirely clothed with trees
of various fizes; fome of which are very large. But, above
the reft, the tall cocoa-palms always raife their tufted
heads; and are far from being the fmalleft ornament to
any country that produces them. This bbogo, which is a
Vol. I. U u . fpecies