near the launch; it fell calm, and the fhi-p Ihot paft her. We
immediately let the anchor go, but, to out great furprife,
we found the ffilp was’ aground forwards .5 She had roxi
on fo eafy, that we had hot‘perceived *it^aCt1th»timefoTh!|;
accident occafiohed ns much trouble; - as we were obliged
to fend anchors out aftern to get the Ihip afloat: in: doing
this, One o f the cable'sfwept: a rock,andwas hot’gotfotear'
again withoutmmchidiffictdtyr ;Whehl^hii^|»W4^ls^hr-
ed, Point Venus bore N 46° E: The eaft point of thfe harbour
N 65° E i of'a mile. Onr diftance from the ffibre half
a cable’s length ; depth o f wafer-8 ftfathoms. -
; The next morning;r on my landing,I' was Welcorhed by
all the principal- people; 1 may fay by the whole, croud;'
and congratulated on the fafety o f the ffiip. :Tinah ffiewed
me. a houfe near the water fide, abreaft thd > :ftiip, which
he defired I would make ufe of, and which wfe slafge
enough for all. our; purpofes. r i l e and his brother Oree-
pyah then defired I would ftay and receive a formal addrefs
and prefcnt; which they called .Otee; To . this .1 affented,
and a ftool was brought for me to fit on. They then left
me with Moannah, and-in a ffiort- time: T faw Tinah returning
with about twenty !men,- who all’ made a 'ffop'at
feme diftancc, and a prieft faid a Ihort prSyer to thexEatua,:
to which the reft made reply. !'A nian was then feiit -to
me three feveral times, at each time bringing, me a fmall
pig, and the ftern o f a plantain leaf. ‘ The firft they told
me was for the God o f Brittannee, the next - for King
George, and the laft for myfelf. Moannah. then g6t up; and,
without being di&ated to, made an oration for me; the
purport of which I underftood to he, that I received their
offering with thanks; that we were good people and
friends; and therefore.he exhorted them to commit no
thefts:
T H.E S 0 U T H S E,A S/ &c. h i
thefts : Am told them, to bring their pigs, cocoa-nuts, and 1.788.
^pead-fruit, and they would receive.good things in return; ^ECEMBERi
that- we. took >nothing. without their cdhfeut; and finally,
that- eve$y rhan- was tp quit the place (the houfe we occupied)
;at night; for i f they made any viiit in the dark, they
■ ^^jPshie kiHcds ..With thisifpeech the ceremony ended.
I found this a delightful fituation, and in .every refpebfc
convenient, t The ihip was perfectly fheltered by the reefs
in fmooth water, andt^ofeifo a fine beach without the leaft
fu r f.; A fmall river,!.with.very good ,water, runs into the
fea about the middle of .the harbour, h ^ v e diredhons for
t^ie plants ,tp be, , landed; and the fame party to be with
them as at.ldatavai. Tinah fixed, his dwelhng clofe to our
ftatioa. ,,
. Some of the, natiyes took advantage of the .butcher’s neg^ Monday 29.
l^gence, and ftole his cle,av^r* I complained of this to the •
chjefs Who were on.hoard, and;-they promifed that they
would endeavour to recover. it; but an article fo valuable
as this was to the, natives, I had no great expectation o f
feeing reftored, -
The fhip continued to be fhpplied by the natives' as ufiial.
Cocoa-nuts were;ii\fuch plenty, that I believe not a pint
of water was drank on board the ihip in the twenty-four
hours. Bread-fruit began to be fcarce, though we pur-
chafed, without difficulty, a fufficient quantity for our con-
fumption : there was, however, another harveft approaching,
which they expected would be fit for ufe in five or fix
weeks. The better kind of plantains alfq were become
fcarce; but a kind which they call Vayhee were in great
plenty. This fruit does not hang on the trees like the
other kinds, but grows upon an upright ftalk of eonfider-
able ftrength and fuhftance. Though this plantain is inferior