rum, they did not drink it till they had bowed to every
person round. Another canoe went near the Alceste, and
a rope being thrown to them, they ¡tied a fish to it, and then
paddled away. All this seemed to promise well, and was
particularly grateful after the cold repulsive manners of the
Coreans.
The day was spent in trying to beat round the point to
windward, but the tide was too strong against us, and when
it became dark, we found ourselves awkwardly situated.
To the east and west of us there were islands at the distance
of a few miles. To leeward was a circular coral reef, just
appearing above the surface a t low water ; and to windward
were seen the reefs upon which we were so nearly wrecked
on Saturday. As the exact position of these numerous
dangers was unknown to us, we were determined to anchor
for the night, though in eighty fathoms water.
l6 th of September. At daylight we weighed, and beat
to windward all the morning; but owing to thé tide being
contrary, it was two o'clock before we passed the point
mentioned above; which we had no sooner done, than we
came in sight of an extensive town, having a harbour filled
with vessels a t anchor. On steering'towards the town, we
had to sound our way cautiously amongst coral reefs, which
were tolerably well defined by the surf breaking upon
them*. The Alceste followed: as soon as we had ascertained
that the passage was clear, and both ships anchored a t the
distance of half a mile from the town.
In a short time we were surrounded by canoes,full of
the natives, who, with their children, flocked on board.
They wear a loose dress, tied with a belt round their waist;
their hair is brought tight up from all sides, and formed into
a knot on the top of the head, with two metal pins stuck in
it. In the course of an hour, a native came on board who
appeared to be some what higher in rank than the re s t; and
we now discovered, to our great satisfaction, tha t this man
understood our Chinese servant, who had been of no use to
us a t Corea. As it was found that there were other chiefs
on shore superior in rank to this man, Captain Maxwell
declined receiving his visit; as welL with the view of inducing
the principal people to come on board, as of maintaining
an appearance of dignity, a point of great importance in all
transactions with the Chinese and their dependents, who
invariably repay condescension with presumption. As
we had heard of these people being tributary to China,
it was natural to conclude that there might be some
* This circumstance is by no means common, and therefore cannot be
depended on. In fine weather these reefs give no warning whatever, and a ship
on approaching’ them ought invariably to have a boat ahead.