which appeared tc-fee an ifl.and .of a moderate-height. : Ote
the north part was a round hill:the- N W part was-higheft
and fteep : the S E part Hoped off to a low point. ' :
The wind had been Wefterlyfiace the preceding nooife,';
and at the time we faw the land, the fhip-.was ffiSiding to
the N W. At fix., we tacked'toThe- fouthward, and; as we-
advanced in that diredtion, d hoovered a number of low-
keys, of which: at noon we counted nine;: they were all
covered with trees. ; The large ifland fijpft feen had a imbffe
fruitful appearance,, its ihore-being bordered, with flat dandy,
on which grew innumerable' cocoa-nut and other trees ; and;
the higher gronhds l^u tifufly intterfpeEfed with lawns.:
The wind being light and unfavourable, we ende&vctee®
all day, but without fuccefe, to get near- the land. la the:
night we had a heavy fquall, which obliged us tn cfew upi
all our fails, and loon after it fell calm.
. On the n th , the winds were light and'variable- alhdisyj,
with calms. A t two in- the afemcsMyiwe were wittuh thi*e©:
. miles of the fouthernmoft key, and could fee! a number o f
people within the reefs, Shortly after* a canoe* in which
were four men, paddled off to. us,, and came alonglide,.
without Brewing any ligns of apprebenfioil or furprife. I
gave them a few beads, and they came into the-flap. One-
man, who feemed to have an afcendency over the others,,
looked about the fhip with fome appearance of curiolity,.
but none of them would; venture to go below.. They afked-
for feme boiled frefli pork, which they faw in a. howl, belonging
to one of the fearaen, and it was given them to eat*,
with boiled plantains. Being told- that' I Was the E'aree or
chief o f the fhip, the principal perfon came and joined nofes.
with.me, and prefented to me-a large mother of pearl Ihell,,
X . which
• which- hung with .platted hair round his neck ; this he . 17%.
fattened round my.neck, with ligns of great Satisfaction. ,Af R1 l’
’ They fpoke the fame language as at Otaheite, with-very
little' variation*' as? fay as I could judge: In a fmâll vocabulary,
that I made whilft: converfing With thefe men, only
four words, out of. twenty-four, differed from the Otaheite.
The name of the large bland, they.told me, was Wytootackee,
and the Earee was called Lomakkayah. They faid that there
were no hogs, dags; or goats, upon the ifland, nor had they
•yams, or .tarro ; but1 that plantains,- cocoa-nuts, fowls, breadfruit,
and avees,1 were there in great abundance. Notwith-
fianding. they faid that no hogs were on the ifland, it was
evident they had leen fuch animals; for they called them
by the fame name as is given ta- them • at Otaheite, Which-
. made me fufpedt that they were deceiving me. However, I
ordered -a yotmghoar and fow to be put into their canoe,
with : fome. yams and tarro, ..as we could afford to part
with fome of thefe articles'. I alfo gave to each of them a
knifë, a fmall ad.ze, foînfi nails,beads, and a looking-glafs.
The latter they cxamiined with great curiafity ; but with the
irOa-work they appeared to he acquainted calling it aouree,
which is the common name for iron among the iflands where
it iTknown.
A-s they were preparing to leave us, the chief o f the canoe
tbok poffeffion o f every thing that I had given to the others-..
' One of them fhewed fome figns of dilTatisfadfion ; but, after
a little altercation, they joined nofes, and were.reconciled. I ,
now thought they were going to leave the fhip ; but only two
of them went into the Canoe, the other two purposing to
flay all night with us, and to have the canoe return for them
in the -morning. I would have treated their confidence
with the regard it merited, hut it was impoffible to fay how
U III far