Before our party reached the shore the next morning, one of the
natives was perceived carrying off a small cask that had been left there
the preceding night. W e watched him through our telescopes, and
observed him conceal it with a large mat which he carried with him.
He had doubtless no suspicion that his actions could be observed at so
great a distance, as he began to retrace his steps along the open beach;
but seeing he was not sufficiently quick to escape the boats that were
going on shore, he quitted his prize, and hid himself in the wood. The
watering had not long been renewed before a large party collected
upon the height above them, headed by two men, who appeared to be
chiefs, with loose white turbans and cloaks : the eldest led the party
cautiously down the hill, and made a stand at a large stone, which
one of the party ascended, and there waved a banana leaf. We
answered this friendly signal by waving in return a white flag from the
ship; but here our amity ended; for while this was going forward the
other chief stood upon the ridge, and beckoned to the natives on the
other side of the hill to join him, which greatly augmented his numbers
; and some of them loosened large stones, apparently with a view
of annoying our watering party, who were so situated under the hill
that a few such fragments precipitated upon them would cause very
serious mischief. As there was every appearance of treachery, the boats
were put upon their guard by signal; but the barge mistaking its
purport, fired two shot to dislodge the islanders, both of which, to their
great astonishment, fell very close to them, and they retired to the other
side of the ridge. Some, however, had the curiosity to return and examine
the place, and, after a little digging, found one of the shot,which they carried
to their comrades, many of whom assembled round the prize, never
probably having had so large a piece of iron in their possession before.
At noon on the 5th the watering was completed, and without any
accident or sickness, which, considering the difficulty of getting the
casks off, and the constant exposure to a vertical sun while in the water,
there was every reason to apprehend. It was further satisfactory to
find that this service had been effected without any harm to the natives,
except in one instance, when a marine inconsiderately fired at a party
who were lurking in the wood, and wounded one of them in the foot.
From the disposition of the inhabitants and the superiority of their CIEAP.
numbers, there was reason to apprehend a different result; and the
quietness with which it was conducted must be attributed to their
Jan.
1S 26 .
being kept at a distance during its performance.
The boats were now sent to survey the groupe, and were kept
constantly employed upon it from daylight to dusk. In the course
of this examination every part was visited, and we had frequent communication
with the natives, who on such occasions were always civil,
and brought such supplies of fruit and food as their scanty means
afforded, and generally abstained from the indulgence of their propensity
for thieving, which when numerous they so fully indulged. Their
behaviour was indeed so different from what it had been, that we must
attribute it to the operation of fear, as their numbers were then very
small, in consequence of our visits being unexpected and the population
of each village very limited. The net we had taken off the shore was
carried round to the principal village and offered in return for the articles
that had been stolen, but whether our meaning was understood
or not, they were never produced.
This village is situated in a bay, at the eastern foot of Mount
Duff, and is rendered conspicuous by a hut of very large dimensions,
which we shall describe hereafter, and by a quadrangular building
of large blocks of coral erected in the water, at a few yards distance
from the shore, which appeared to us to be a morai. Upon its
northern extreme stood a small hut, planted round with trees, which
it was conjectured contained images and offerings; but, as the door
was closed, and the natives were watching us, we would not examine it.
Contiguous to it there was a body placed upon boards, wrapped in thick
folds of paper cloth; and, not far from it, another enveloped in a smaller
quantity of the same material. There was no offensive smell whatever
from either of these corpses, though the one last mentioned did not
appear to have been long exposed. The heads of both were lying to the
N. E. ; both bodies were more abundantly surrounded by cloth than
any we had seen here ; and from the nature of the platform on which
they were placed, which must have required considerable labour to construct,
we concluded they were the bodies of chiefs; and we were, on
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