were never nearer than a mile, we faw them with our glaffes as diftinctly as if we had been upon the fpot. The plank of which thefe veffels are conftructed, is made by splitting a tree, with the grain, into as many thin pieces as they can. They firft fell the tree with a kind of hatchet, or adze, made of a tough greenish kind of stone, very dexterously fitted into a handle; it is then cut into fuch lengths as are required for the plank, one end of which is heated till it begins to crack, and then with wedges of hard wood they split it down: fome of these planks are two feet broad, and from 15 to 20 feet long. The fides are fimoothed with adzes of the fame materials and conftruction, but of a fmaller fize. Six or eight men are fometimes at work upon the fame plank together, and, as their tools prefently lose their edge, every man has by him a cocoa nut-shell filled with water, and a flat ftone, with which he sharpens his adze almost every minute. These planks are generally brought to the thickness of about an inch, and are afterwards fitted to the boat with the fame exactness that would be expected from an expert joiner. To fasten these planks together, holes are bored with a piece of bone that is fixed into a stick for that purpose, a use to which our nails were afterwards applied with great advantage, and through these holes a kind of plaited cordage is paffed, fo as to hold the planks ftrongly together: the feams are caulked with dried rushes, and the whole outfide of the veffel is payed with a gummy juice, which some of their trees produce in great plenty, and which is a very good fuccedaneum for pitch. The wood which they use for their large canoes, is that of the apple-tree, which grows very tall and strait. Several of them, that we measured, were near eight feet in the girth, and from 20 to 40 to the branches, with very little diminution in the fize. Our carpenter faid, that in other respects it was not a good wood for the purpose, being very light. The fmall canoes are nothing more than the hollowed trunk of the breadfruit tree, which is ftill more light and fpongy. The trunk of the bread-fruit tree is fix feet in girth, and about 20 feet to the branches. 1767. July. 1767. July. Their principal weapons are ftones, thrown either with the hand or fling, and bludgeons; for though they have bows and arrows, the arrows, are only fit to knock down a bird, none of them being pointed, but headed only with a round ftone. I did not fee one turtle all the while I lay off this ifland; but upon fhewing fome fmall ones which I brought from Queen Charlotte's Ifland, to the inhabitants, they made figns that they had them of a much larger fize. I very much regretted my having loft our he-goat, which died foon after we left Saint Iago, and that neither of our the-goats, of which we had two, were with kid. If the he-goat had lived, I would have put them all on fhore at this place, and I would have left a fhe-goat here if either of them had been with kid; and I doubt not,' but that in a few years they would have stocked the island. The climate here appears to be very good, and the ifland to be one of the moft healthy as well as delightful fpots in the world. We faw no appearance of difease among the inhabitants. The hills are covered with wood, and the vallies with herbage; and the air in general is fo pure, that notwithstanding the heat, our fleth meat kept very well two days, and our fish one. We met with no frog, toad, fcorpion, centipied, or ferpent of any kind: and the only troublefome infects that we saw were ants, of which there were but few. The fouth-eaft part of the island seems to be better cultivated and inhabited than where we lay; for we faw every day boats come round from thence laden with plantains and other fruit, and we always found greater plenty, and a lower price, foon after their arrival than before. The tide rifes and falls very little, and being governed by the winds, is very uncertain; though they generally blow from the E. to the S. S. E. and for the most part a pleafant breeze, The benefit that we received while we lay off this ifland, with refpect to the health of the fhip's company, was beyond our moft fanguine expectations, for we had not now an invalid on board, except the two Lieutenants and myfelf, andwe were recovering, though till in a very feeble condition. It is certain that none of our people contracted the venereal disease here, and therefore, as they had free commerce with great numbers of the women, there is the greatest probability that it was not then known in the country. It was, however, found here by Captain Cook, in the Endeavour; and as no European vessel is known to have vifited this ifland before Captain Cook's arrival, but the Dolphin, and the Boudeufe and Etoil, commanded by M. Bougainville, the reproach of having contaminated with that dreadful peft a race of happy people, to whom its miferies had till then been unknown, must be due either to him or to me, to England or to France; and I think myself happy to be able to exculpate myself and my country beyond the poffibility of doubt. It is well known, that the Surgeon on board his Majesty's fhips keeps a lift of the perfons who are fick on board, fpecifying their diseases, and the time when they came under his care, and when they were discharged. It happened that I was once at the pay-table on board a fhip, when feveral failors objected to the payment of the Surgeon, alledging, that although he had discharged them from the lift, and reported them to be cured, yet their cure was incomplete. From this time, it has been my conftant practice when the Surgeon reported a man to be cured, who had been upon the fick lift, to call the man before me, and ask him whether the report was true: if he alledged that any fymptoms of his complaint remained, I continued him upon the lift; if not, I required him, as a confirmation of the Surgeon's report, to fign the book, which was always done in my prefence. A copy of the fick lift, on board the Dolphin, during this voyage, figned by every man in my presence, when he was discharged well, in confirmation of the Surgeon's report, written in my own hand, and confirmed by my affidavit, I have depofited in the Admiralty; by which it appears, that the last man on board the ship, in her voyage outward, who was upon the fick lift for the venereal disease, except one who was fent to England in the Store ship, was discharged cured, and figned the book on the 27th of December, 1766, near fix months before our arrival at Otaheite, which was on the 19th of June, 1767. July. 1767 July. Monday 27. Tuefd. 28. June, 1767; and that the first man who was upon the lift for that disease, in our return home, was entered on the 26th of February, 1768, fix months after we left the island, which was on the 26th of July 1767; fo that the fhip's company was entirely free fourteen months within one day, the very middle of which time we spent at Otaheite; and the man who was first entered as a venereal patient, on our return home, was known to have contracted the disease at the Cape of Good Hope, where we then lay. CHA P. IX. Paffage from Otaheite to Tinian, with fome Account of H AVING made fail from King George the Third's Ifland, we proceeded along the shore of the Duke of York's Ifland, at the diftance of about two miles. There appeared to be good bays in every part of it, and in the middle a fine harbour; but I did not think it worth while to go on fhore. The middle and weft end is very mountainous, the east end is lower, and the coaft juft within the beach is covered with cocoa-nut, bread-fruit, apple, and plantain trees. At day-light, the next morning, we faw land, for which we made fail, and ran along the lee-fide of it. On the weather fide there were very great breakers, and the lee-fide was rocky, but in many places there appeared to be good anchorage. We faw but few inhabitants, and they appeared to live in a manner very different from those of King George's Island, their habitations being only fmall huts. We faw many cocoanut and other trees upon the fhore; but all of them had their heads blown away, probably in a hurricane. This island is about fix miles long, and has a mountain of confiderable height in the middle, which feems to be fertile. It lies in latitude 17° 28'S. and longitude, by our laft obfervation, 151° 4' W. and I callSaunders's ed it SIR CHARLES SAUNDERS'S ISLAND. Sir Char. lfland. Wedn. 29. On the 29th, the variation of the coinpafs, by azimuth, was 7° 52'E; and early the next morning, at 1767. July. at day-break, we faw land bearing from N. by E. to N. W. We stood for it, but could find no anchorage, the whole island being furrounded by breakers. Thursd. 30. We saw smoke in two places, but no inhabitants. A few cocoa-nut trees were growing on the lee-part of it, and I called it Lord How's ISLAND. It is about ten Lord How's Inland. miles long, and four broad, and lies in latitude 16o 46' S. longitude, by obfervation, 154° 13′ W. In the afternoon we faw land bearing W. by N. and flood for it. At five o'clock, we faw breakers running a great way out to the fouthward, and foon after, low land to the S. W. and breakers all about it in every direction. lands. We turned to windward all night, and as foon as it was light, crowded fail to get round thefe fhoals. At nine we got round them, and named them SCILLY Scilly IfISLANDS. They are a group of iflands or shoals extremely dangerous; for in the night, however clear the weather, and by day, if it is hazey, a fhip may run upon them without feeing land. They lie in latitude 16o 28' S. longitude 155° 30′ W. We continued to steer our course weftward till day- Auguft. Thurf. 13. break on the 13th of Auguft, when we faw land bearing W. by S. and hauled towards it. At 11 o'clock in the forenoon, we faw more land in the W. S. W. At noon, the first land that we faw, which proved to be an island, bore W. S. diftant about five leagues, and had the appearance of a fugar loaf; the middle of the other land, which was alfo an ifland, and appeared in a peak, bore W. S. W. diftant fix leagues. To the first, which is nearly circular, and three miles over, I gave the name of BOSCAWEN'S ISLAND; and the Boscawen's other, which is three miles and a half long, and two broad, I called KEPPEL'S ISLE. Port Royal at this Keppel's time bore E. 4° 10'S. diftant 478 leagues. At two o'clock, being about two miles diftant from Bofcawen's Ifland, we faw feveral of the inhabitants; but Keppel's Ifle being to windward, and appearing more likely to afford us anchorage, we hauled up for it. At fix it was not more than a mile and a half diftant, and, with our glaffes, we faw many of the inhabitants upon the beach; but there being breakers Island. Ifle. |