I N T R O D U C T I O N .
likely to become an objeéfc worthy of the attention of the
Spanijb monarchy, they were therefore, nearly from this period,
negleded ; and even to this day little more is known of
them, than that they occupy a certain fpaceon the futfaee of
the giobe.--JBut the Fifth divilxon bf them, fardiftant rfótïi
the reft, and inhabited by people who were branded with
"the imputation of being inhuman, -fawigty. and enemies d f
mankind, were, in cemfequence, never finee ih^hèd aftefi;
and, though laid down in fome late charts, under their original
Spanijh appellation of the PAnos Mand^ hate Continued
till now in total obfcurity.—-They havè, lï is true,
been feen, at different times, by ihips making , the :Eapern
paflage to and From China againftthe nq *0®è :
appears to have ever landed there, or to havé had any-' inter-
courfe with the inhabitants ; nor haVethey lain-M the irack
of any of tire circumnavigators ; Captain Carteret, in his
courfe, approached them the neareft.
From the above obfervations, and the great affonilh-
ment which the natives of Pelew difoovered on ŸoQÏhg-wbite
people, it feems beyond a doubt that the crew of the .
TEX.OPE were the firft Europeans who “had ever landed on
thefe iflands ; and it feems equally certain, that their neareft
neighbours in the adjoining Archipelago knew nothing of
them.— I therefore feel fome fotisfa&ion in being the inftru-
ment of introducing to the world a new peùpté ; and a far
treater one, in having the means in my power, of vindicating
their injured characters from the imputation of thofe fa vagemanners
I N T R O D U C T I O N .
manners which ignorance alone had .aforibed to-them; for I
am con fid e when he has gone through
the préfent account of thern-with atteptipn, jwill be convinced
thatJ thefe Unknown natives-mf Pelew, fo far fropx
dlfgracing, live human nature* ■
v The part I have taken in tins work originated from my
knowledge -of Captain Wilsons ..veracity, and from mf
being highlyinterefted with the a c c o u n t g a ^ o f thé inhabitants
of tbefe.-iflands, which was do-happily illuftrated
sbyithegpod fojffeand amiable manners-of the ypuiig P-hLnfe
L ee Bo%.whomj at.the -King fhjs fathers fequeft,he had
brought with Mrrfto ’®n*3L=an©,
; |m frequently mentioned, to nay valuable friend,- ML
Brook Watson, (through whom I had ftrft been acquainted
with Captain ;Wil go n:) that I thought the whole.
. drain ofe vents, following the fofs of the A nte-IxOpe, weiltne-
rited the public-eye, whhing him to fobmit the matter to-fais
friénd’s| eonftderation bjafc after th-ipe -quarters of *r year,
I perceived that the Captain’s own affairs, his natural diffidence,
and probably ftis -inexperience in preparingproperly
fuch a work, rendered him little difpofedtothe undertaking
-^aqd, as he was then preparing to-go out again to-Indi a,
the account was in danger of being totally -loft. •
Struck as I was with the relation of the virtues and cha-
rafter of the natives.pf thefe iffands-^fe^fible ikow foon
oral teftimony isibeyohd Recovery, and the, records of memory
effaced by the events, or Gafualties of -lifo-^Ifolt anxious
v