*778.
April.
T u e fd a y 7 .
Wednef. 8.
In the morning o f the 7th, we got the fore-maft out, and
hauled it a ih o re ; and the carpenters o f the ihips were fet
to w ork upon it. Some parts o f the lower Handing r ig g
in g having been found to be very much decayed, as w e had
time now to put them in order, w h ile the carpenters were
repairing the fore mail, I ordered a n ew fet o f m a in-r igg ing
to be fitt'ed, and a more perfect fet o f fo re -rig g in g to be fe-
lefted out o f the belt parts o f the old.
From the time o f our putting into the Sound till now, the
weather had been exceedingly fine, without either wind or
rain. That comfort, at the ve ry moment when the continuance
o f it would have been o f moil lerviee, was w ith drawn.
In the morning o f the 8th, the wind frefhened at
South Eaft, attended with thick h a zy weather and rain. In
the afternoon the wind inereafed; and, toward the evening,
it b lew ve ry hard indeed. It came, in exceffively heavy
fqualls, from over the h igh land on the oppofite fliore, right
into the co v e ; and, though the ihips were ve ry well moored,
put them in fome danger. Thefe tempeftuous blafts
fucceeded each other pretty q u ic k ; but they were o f fhort
duration ; and in the intervals between them we had a per-
f e f t calm. According to the old proverb, Misfortunes fel-
dom come f in g le ; the mizen was n ow the only mail on
board the Refolution that remained rigged, with its top-
maft up. T h e former was fo defective, that it could not
fupport the latter during the violence o f the fqualls, but
gave w a y at the head under the rig g in g . About eight
o’clock the gale abated ; but the rain continued with ve ry
little intermiflion fo r feveral days ; and, that the carpenters
m igh t be enabled to proceed in their labours, while it prevailed,
a tent was ereited over the fore-maft, where they
could work w ith fome degree o f convenience.
T h e
The bad weather w h ich now came on, did not, however, «n ?•
hinder the natives from vifiting us d a ily ; and, in fuch cir- ■ Ap.rlh -
eumftances, their viftts were ve ry advantageous to us. For
they frequently brought us a tolerable fupply o f fiih, when
we could not catch any ourfeives with hook and lin e ; and
there was not a proper place near us where w e could draw
a net. The filh w hich the y brought us were either fardin es;
or what refembled them much, a fmall kind o f b re am ; an d
fometimes fmall cod.
On the n th , notwithftanding the rainy w eather, the main- Saturday n .
r ig g in g was fired and got over head ; and our employment,
the day after, was to take down the mizen-maft, the head Sunday 12.
o f w hich proved to be fo rotten, that it d ropped o f f while in
the flings. In the evening w e were vifited by a tribe o f
natives whom w e had never feen b e fo r e ; and who, in g e neral,
were better lookin g people than mofl o f our old
friends, fome o f whom attended them. I prevailed upon
thefe vifiters to go down into the cabin fo r the firft t im e ;
and obferved, that there was not a fingle o b je it that fixed
the attention o f mod o f them for a m om en t; their countenances
marking, that they looked upon all our novelties
with the utmoft indifference. T his , however, was not
without exception; for a few o f the company fliewed a
certain degree o f curiofity.
In the afternoon o f the next day, I went into the woods Monday 13.
with a party o f our men, and cut down a tree for a mizen-
maft. On the day following, it was brought to th,e place Tuefdayi4.
where the carpenters were employed upon the fore-maft.
In the evening the wind, w hich had been, for fome time,
Wefterly, veered to South Eaft, and inereafed to a very hard
gale, with-rain, which continued till eight o’clock the next Wedutf 15.
morning, when it abated, and veered again to the Well.