Im i *
two leagues. Juft heforeda#k ’we .law another iflandlto ther'W;d^fWV
diftant three or four leagues ; and fleering to-goto the fouthward of
it, thetbetter to avoid>any danger that might lie ixhthg way, at mid-
rnght ifcibpre -Ji
o fAbout £pirr ilLvlyJsion bhe a&thpvwe difcoveredc other iftands,'
•and- by meanst ,©f: ofiiii hight-glkfs -.couldi • difccrn. t^e?j&treme^'i from.
A&dtj-jibBs .time ’ft- fgll. calni," whiej® Gon4
tinned;. and at - daybreak i we {counted fix,, whieh‘.| might « from, their
f e e , merit thehaineof'iftaiids; andjfevfcnifletsy-prtlcajfesj'to thewhoM
of.'wlrirh 'we gasve;thfc name of, theirTjbirteenxiilands,i. i Afr the? diftance
o f one league their extremes .here from Ny-W'. | W.fita'.M. d*E; hy
which their extentsmaylbe sftimkted. J .The latitudei-Jof th eb faA e rn
ja r t iio f :tfemf is ^javabbi&ld :lopgitude'ijr44<n^o/«iiE."lc Asboutl fixity
canoes came;off aEfirft^IaiKhajBterwardsjfenedofiOuni^^^eGepiEterf
one hunched and: fiftydnyfightrcfcachcofi which, on an average, contained
feven men, whichHis one thoufahd and fifty.;-«mi-.fifnw.er.,add‘
half as many leftyah fhore, .and double fihat :n&mber..forIthe yeomen
and children, the population o f this; group alone will amqMhe te;fhree
thoufand one. hundred and'fifty fools, which, .according dbltlxeu'apr
pearance o f the iftands, muft o f tern he pinched for:fpOd.:pHere,Tfoi‘
the firft time, l we got a fight of. their women, w h o a \ footHemumber
o f a dozen or more, came o ff in three canoes: .in twq they .wergj.ac-*
companied by,the mgflij’^fhe'lhird:waar dceujdedsrhyLj^ijteig .ffemen
only. For a confiderable time they kept aloof, whilft their.Jfen.meri
{eerngi to eye them with attention ; bul obferving that Wadid-not regard
them with any particular notice, they were fufFered to .approach
within a few yards o f thefhip, which, asrwell as: ourfelves, they appeared
to furvey with delight. Some o f them werev well,■ featured,
having neither very thick lips nor broad faces, though. inclining
to both. Their hair is black and long. In complexion they differ
from the men by a fickly kind o f whitilhnefs that is mixed with the
natural olive. \ As we faw them almoft naked,- their, greateft ornament
and higheft praife was the decency and modefty o f tlipir behaviour;
The greater number of the men were naked alfo : fome had a fafti mat
Wrappèd;round their middle ; others added an ornamental belt round
theft bódy, ■ near the navel: thefebelts\are about an inch
pofe.dlc^h{ts jbfdblf^!? andjjwhitej'lhells, boredSjand ftrung after the
$gajya^r pf ;beads them yroreja broad conical hat, in form
not much unlike that of thé Chinefe. | Thefe iftands. feemed alike in
every refpedt, no one appearing to afford greater natural advantages
than the other, except where; the groups derive-fome enjoy merits from
neighbourhood;!; < and. perhapsrq.miOre^ gxtenflve afho^s-, and fmooth
water Jafford-.^ar eovefct where .tfe^fifh may £helter,\£rofn the .ftorm.
Thus theytmay,find, gri^ei^fpfbufSees' than oruthe illand that is feitary.
ilovvcyer, with refpeft to articles of exchange, they appeared to -be
equally ftored: o f thefe the ftaple is koir rope, thirty fathom of which
w.e. could r purchafe for a.piecé. of an old iron hoop fix inches long:
this rope is in general about an'inch thick, and equal, if not fuperior,
in ftrength to our hemp-made ropes. As they every where exp refled
the moft eager defire for iron, at the above price we might, by
delaying a few hours at each illand, havé almoft filled the fhip with
i t ; arid wouM.icertainff haye done it, had wertkno'Wn what we have
fince learnt, that it will frequently fetch a good price in China. Their
fifhing-tackle differs littleirom whatwe had feen in-the eaftern iflands ~
but their matting was'ftriking and curious, being-wO.ve and made in.
the form of a Spanifh fafir, with a fancy border at each end, wrought
in with black threads. The natural colour of thefe fafhes is white ;;
but many of ’them are dyed of a beautiful yellow with turmeric. It
is jmpoffible 'to-behold thofe neat-wrought fafhes, and their rude ma-
nüfadturers at the • fame time, without wondering, and wifhing to
know how they came by the1 art. It is not improbable that they
might-, have-been taiight by the Jefuit miffionaries; two. of whom
were fent by the Spanifh government' from Manilla.in the year m o ;.
but as the fhip that took them thither was driven away by the
■ currents, the Jefuits were never heard of more: however, others were
fent, who continued their efforts a few years,, till having informed»