2 10
1778.
■ J an u a ry .
made it neceffary to iet all the fail we could, in order to
clear the ih o re ; fo that, before we had tolerable fearroom,
we were driven fome diftance to leeward. \Ve made a ftretch
off, w ith a view to regain tire ro a d ; but h a vin g ve ry little
wind, and a ftrong current againft us, I found, that this was
not to be effefted. I therefore difpatched Meflrs. K in g and
Willianifon afhore, with three boats, fo r water, and to trade
fo r refreffiments. At the fame time, I fent an order to Captain
Clerke, to put to fea after me, i f he ihould fee that I
could not recover the road. Being in hopes o f finding one,
or perhaps a harbour, at the Weft end o f the ifland, I was
the lefs anxious about ge ttin g back to m y former ftation.
But as I had fent the boats thither, w e kept to windward as
m u ch as poffible •, notwithftanding which, at noon, we were
three leagu es to leeward. As we drew near the Weft end o f
the ifland, w e found the coaft to round gradually to the
North Eaft, without formin g a creek, or cove, to lhelter a
vefiel from the force o f the fwell, which rolled in from the
North, and broke upon the ihore in a prodigious fu r f; fo
that all hopes o f finding a harbour here vaniihed.
Several canoes came off in the morning, and followed us
as w e flood out to fea, bartering their roots and other articles.
Being ve ry averfe to believe thefe people to be cannibals,
notwithftanding the fufpicious circumftance w hich
had happened the day before, w e took occafion now to make
fome more inquiries about this. A fmall wooden inftrument,
befet with iha rk s teeth, had been pu rchafed ; and
from its refemb'lance to the faw or kn ife ufed by the New
Zealanders, to diffedt the bodies o f their .enemies, it was
fufp eited to have the fame ufe here. One o f the natives
b e in g aiked about this, immediately,gave the name o f the
inftrument, and told us, that it was ufed to cut out, the
, fleihy
fleihy part o f the belly, when any perfon was killed. T h is p § § ||
explained and confirmed the circumftance above-mentioned,
of the perfon pointing to his belly. T h e man, however,
from whom, we now had this information ,. being alked, i f
his countrymen eat the part thus cut out ? denied it ftrong-
l y ; but, upon the queftion being repeated, fhewed fome
degree o f fear, and fwam to his canoe. Juft before he
reached it, he made figns, as he had done before, expreflive
o f the ufe o f the inftrument. And an old man, who fat
foremoft in the canoe, being then aiked, whether they eat
the fle fti! anfwered in the affirmative, and laughed, feem-
in g ly at the fimplicity o f fuch a queftion. He affirmed the
f a i l , on being aiked again ; and alfo faid, it was excellent
food, or, as he exprefled it, § favoury eating.”
At feven o’clock in the evening, the boats returned, w ith
two tons o f water, a few hogs, a quantity o f plantains, and
fome roots. Mr. K in g informed me, that a great number
o f the inhabitants were at the watering or landing place.
He fuppofed, that they had come from all parts o f the
ifland. T h e y had brought w ith them a great many fine fat
hogs, to barter ; b u t m y people had not commodities with
them equal to the purchafe. T his, however, was no great
lofs ; for w e had already got as many on board, as we could
w e ll manage for immediate u fe ; and, wan ting the materials,
we could not have falted them. Mr. K in g alfo told
me, that ,a great deal o f rain had fallen afhore, whereas, out
at fea, w e had only a few ih ow e r s ; and that the fu r f had
run fo h igh , that it was with great difficulty our men
landec}, and got ba ck into the boats.
We had ligh t airs and calms, by turns, w ith ihowers o f
rain, a ll n ig h t ; and at day-break, in the morning o f the
24th, w e found, that the currents had carried the fliip to Saturday
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