and their guides offered to affift them in mounting this pass, but recommmended another at a little distance lower down, as lefs difficult and dangerous. They took a view of this "better way," but found it fo bad that they did not chufe to attempt it, as there was nothing at the top to reward their toil and hazard, but a grove of the wild plantain or Vae tree, which they had öften feen before. During this excurfion, Mr. Banks had an excellent opportunity to examine the rocks, which were almoft every where naked, for minerals ; but he found not the least appearance of any. The ftones every where, like those of Madeira, fhewed manifeft tokens of having been burnt ; nor is there a fingle fpecimen of any stone, among all thofe that were collected in the ifland, upon which there are not manifeft and indubitable marks of fire; except perhaps fome fmall pieces of the hatchet-ftone, and even of that, other fragments were collected which were burnt almost to a pumice. Traces of fire are alfe manifeft in the very clay' upon the hills; and it may, therefore, not unreasonably be supposed, that this, and the neighbouring islands, are either fhattered remains of a continent, which some have fuppofed to be neceffary in this part of the globe, to preserve an equilibrium of its parts, which were left behind when the rest funk by the mining of a fubterraneous fire, fo as to give a paffage to the fea over it; of were torn 1769. July. Monday 3 1769. July. Monday 3. from rocks, which, from the creation of the world, had been the bed of the fea, and thrown up in heaps, to a height which the waters never reach. One or other of these suppositions will perhaps be thought the more probable, as the water does not gradually grow fhallow as the shore is approached, and the islands are almost every where surrounded by reefs, which appear to be rude and broken, as fome violent concusfion would naturally leave the folid fubftance of the earth. It may also be remarked upon this occafion, that the moit probable cause of earthquakes feems to be the fudden rushing in of water upon fome vaft mass of fubterraneous fire, by the inftantaneous rarefaction of which into vapour, the mine is fprung, and various fubstances, in all stages of vitrification, with shells, and other marine productions, that are now found foffil, and the ftrata that covered the furnace, are thrown up; while thofe parts of the land which were fupported upon the broken shell give way, and fink into the gulph. With this theory the phænomena of all earthquakes seem to agree; pools of water are frequently left where land has fubfided, and various fubstances, which manifeftly appear to have suffered by the action of fire, are thrown up. It is indeed true, that fire cannot fubfift without air; but this cannot be urged against there being fire below that part of the earth which forms the bed of the fea; because there may be innumerable fiffures 1769. July. fiffures by which a communication between those parts and the external air may be kept up, even upon the highest mountains, and at the Monday 3. greatest distance from the fea fhore. On the 4th, Mr. Banks employed himself in Tuesday 4. planting a great quantity of the feeds of watermelons, oranges, lemons, limes, and other plants and trees which he had collected at Rio de Janeiro. For these he prepared ground on each fide of the fort, with as many varieties of foil as he could chufe; and there is little doubt but that they will fucceed. He also gave liberally of these feeds to the Indians, and planted many of them in the woods: fome of the melon feeds having been planted foon after our arrival, the natives fhewed him feveral of the plants which appeared to be in the most flourishing condition, and were continually asking him for more. We now began to prepare for our departure, by bending the fails and performing other neceffary operations on board the fhip, our water being already on board, and the provifions examined. In the mean time we had another visit from Oamo, Oberea, and their son and daughter; the Indians expreffing their respect by uncovering the upper parts of their body as they had done before. The daughter, whofe name we underftood to be TOIMATA, was very defirous to fee the fort, but her father would by no means fuffer her to come in. Tearee, the fon of Wahea 1769. July. Tuesday 4. Friday 7. Saturd. 8. tua, the fovereign of Tiarrabou, the fouth-eaft peninfula, was alfo with us at this time; and we received intelligence of the landing of another guest, whose company was neither expected nor defired: this was no other than the ingenious gentleman who contrived to steal our quadrant. We were told, that he intended to try his fortune again in the night; but the Indians all offered very zealously to affift us against him, defiring that, for this purpose, they might be permitted to lie in the fort. This had fo good an effect, that the thief relinquished his enterprise in despair. On the 7th, the carpenters were employed in taking down the gates and pallifadoes of our little fortification, for firewood on board the fhip; and one of the Indians had dexterity enough to steal the staple and hook upon which the gate turned: he was immediately purfued, and after a chace of fix miles, he appeared to have been paffed, having concealed himself among fome rushes in the brook, the rushes were fearched, and though the thief had escaped, a fcraper was found which had been, ftolen from the ship some time before; and foon after our old friend Tubourai Tamaide brought us the staple. On the 8th and 9th, we continued to dif Sunday 9. mantle our fort, and our friends still flocked about us; fome, I believe, forry at the approach of of our departure, and others defirous to make as much as they could of us while we staid. 1769. July. We were in hopes that we should now leave Sunday 9. the island, without giving or receiving any other offence; but it unfortunately happened otherwife. Two foreign feamen having been out with my permiffion, one of them was robbed of his knife, and endeavouring to recover it, probably with circumftances of great provocation, the Indians attacked him, and dangerously wounded him with a ftone; they wounded his companion alfo flightly in the head, and then fled into the mountains. As I fhould have been forry to take any farther notice of the affair, I was not displeased that the offenders had escaped; but I was immediately involved in a quarrel which I very much regretted, and which yet it was not poffible to avoid. In the middle of the night between the 8th and 9th, Clement Webb and Samuel Gibson, two of the marines, both young men, went privately from the fort, and in the morning, were not to be found. As public notice had been given, that all hands were to go on board on the next day, and that the fhip would fail on the morrow of that day or the day following, I began to fear that the abfentees intended to ftay behind. I knew that I could take no effectual steps to recover them, without endangering the harmony and good-will which at prefent fub. |