1

go ashore; and very few of the Indians came either to the watering-place or the ship.

On the 27th, I went with Dr Solander to examine the bottom of the bay; but though we went ashore at two places, we met with little worth notice. The people behaved very civilly, shewing us every thing that we expressed a desire to see. Among other trifling curiosities which Dr Solander purchased of them, was a boy's top, shaped exactly like those which children play with in England; and they made signs, that to make it spin it was to be whipped. Mr Banks in the mean time went ashore at the watering-place, and climbed a hill which stood at a little distance to see a fence of poles, which we had observed from the ship, and which had been much the subject of speculation. The hill was extremely steep, and rendered almost inaccessible by wood; yet he reached the place, near which he found many houses that for some reason had been deserted by their inhabitants. The poles appeared to be about sixteen feet high; they were placed in two rows, with a space of about six feet between them, and the poles in each row were about ten feet distant from each other. The lane between them was covered by sticks, that were set up sloping towards each other from the top of the poles on each side, like the roof of a house. This rail-work, with a ditch that was parallel to it, was carried about a hundred yards down the hill in a kind of curve; but for what purpose we could not guess.

The Indians, at the watering-place, at our request, entertained us with their war-song, in which the women joined, with the most horrid distortions of countenance, rolling their eyes, thrusting out their tongues, and often heaving loud and deep sighs; though all was done in very good time.

On the 28th, we went ashore upon an island that lies to the left hand of the entrance of the bay, where we saw the largest canoe that we had yet met with: She was sixtyeight feet and a half long, five broad, and three feet six high; she had a sharp bottom, consisting of three trunks of trees hollowed, of which that in the middle was the longest: The side-planks were sixty-two feet long in one piece, and were not despicably carved in bas relief; the head also was adorned with carving still more richly. Upon this island there was a larger house than any we had yet seen; but it seemnet

seemed unfinished and was full of chips. The wood work was squared so even and smooth, that we made no doubt of their having among them very sharp tools. The sides of the posts were carved in a masterly style, though after their whimsical taste, which seems to prefer spiral lines and distorted faces: As these carved posts appeared to have been brought from some other place, such work is probably of great value among them.

At four o'clock in the morning of the 29th, having got on board our wood and water, and a large supply of excellent celery, with which the country abounds, and which proved a powerful antiscorbutic, I unmoored and put to

sea.

This bay is called by the natives Tolaga; it is moderately large, and has from seven to thirteen fathom, with a clean sandy bottom and good anchorage; and is sheltered from all winds except the north-east. It lies in latitude 38° 2′ S. and four leagues and a half to the north of Gable-end Foreland. On the south point lies a small but high island, so near the main as not to be distinguished from it. Close to the north end of the island, at the entrance into the bay, are two high rocks; one is round like a corn-stack, but the other is long, and perforated in several places, so that the openings appear like the arches of a bridge. Within these rocks is the cove where we cut wood, and filled our water-casks. Off the north point of the bay is a pretty high rocky island; and about a mile without it, are some rocks and breakers. The variation of the compass here is 14° 31′ E., and the tide flows at the full and change of the moon, about six o'clock, and rises and falls perpendicularly from five to six feet: Whether the flood comes from the southward or the northward I have not been able to determine,

We got nothing here by traffic but a few fish, and some sweet potatoes, except á few trifles, which we considered merely as curiosities. We saw no four-footed animals, nor the appearance of any, either tame or wild, except dogs and rats, and these were very scarce: The people eat the dogs, like our friends at Otaheite; and adorn their garments with the skins, as we do ours with fur and ermine. I climbed many of the hills, hoping to get a view of the country, but I could see nothing from the top except higher hills, in a boundless succession. The ridges of these

hills produce little besides fern; but the sides are most luxu riantly clothed with wood, and verdure of various kinds, with little plantations intermixed. In the woods, we found trees of above twenty different sorts, and carried specimens of each on board; but there was nobody among us to whom they were not altogether unknown. The tree which we cut for firing was somewhat like our maple, and yielded a whitish gum. We found another sort of it of a deep yel low, which we thought might be useful in dying. We found also one cabbage tree, which we cut down for the cabbages. The country abounds with plants, and the woods with birds, in an endless variety, exquisitely beautiful, and of which none of us had the least knowledge. The soil, both of the hills and vallies, is light and sandy, and very fit for the production of all kinds of roots; though we saw none except sweet potatoes and yams.

SECTION XXIII.

The Range from Tolaga to Mercury Bay, with an Account of many Incidents that happened both on board and ashore: 4 Description of several Views exhibited by the Country, and of the Heppahs, or fortified Villages of the Inhabitants.

ON Monday the 30th, about half an hour after one o'clock, having made sail again to the northward for about ten hours, with a light breeze, I hauled round a small island which lay east one mile from the north-east point of the land: From this place I found the land trend away N.W. by W. and W.N.W. as far as I could see, this point being the eastermost land on the whole coast. I gave it the name of East Cape, and I called the island that lies off it East Island; it is of a small circuit, high and round, and appears white and barren: The Cape is high, with white cliffs, and lies in latitude 37° 42′ 30′′ S. and longitude 181° W. The land from Tolaga Bay to East Cape is of a moderate, but unequal height, forming several small bays, in which are sandy beaches: Of the inland country we could not see much, the weather being cloudy and hazy. The soundings were from twenty to thirty fathom at the distance of about a league from the shore. After we had rounded the Cape, we saw in our run along the shore a great number of villages,

villages, and much cultivated land; the country in general appeared more fertile than before, and was low near the sea, but hilly within. At six in the evening, being four leagues to the westward of East Cape, we passed a bay which was first discovered by Lieutenant Hicks, and which therefore I called Hicks's Bay. At eight in the evening, being eight leagues to the westward of the Cape, and three or four miles from the shore, I shortened sail, and brought-to for the night, having at this time a fresh gale at S.S.E. and squally; but it soon became moderate, and at two in the morning, we made sail again to the S.W. as the land now trended; and at eight o'clock in the morning, saw land, which made like an island, bearing west, the south-westermost part of the main bearing south-west; and about nine no less than five canoes came off, in which were more than forty men, all armed with their country pikes and battle-axes, shouting and threatening an attack; this gave us great uneasiness, and was indeed what we did not expect; for we hoped, that the report both of our power and clemency had spread to a greater extent. When one of these canoes had almost reached the ship, another, of an immense size, the largest that we had yet seen, crowded with people, who were also armed, put off from the shore, and came up at a great rate; as it approached it received signals from the canoe that was nearest to the ship, and we could see that it had sixteen paddles on a side, beside people that sat, and others that stood in a row from stem to stern, being in all about sixty men: As they made directly to the ship, we were desirous of preventing an attack, by showing what we could do; and therefore fired a gun, loaded with grape-shot, a-head of them: This made them stop, but not retreat; a round shot was then fired over them, and upon seeing it fall, they seized their paddles and made towards the shore with such precipitation, that they seemed scarcely to allow themselves time to breathe. In the evening, three or four more canoes came off unarmed; but they would not venture within a musket-shot of the vessel. The Cape, off which we had been threatened with hostilities, I called, from the hasty retreat of the enemy, Cape Runaway. It lies in latitude 37° 32; longitude 181 48. In thay's run, we found that the land, which made like an islar the morning, bearing west, was so; and we of White Island.

At

At day-break on the 1st of November, we counted no less than five-and-forty canoes that were coming from the shore towards the ship: Seven of them came up with us, and after some conversation with Tupia, sold us some lobsters and muscles, and two conger eels. These people traded pretty fairly: When they were gone, some others came off from another place, who began also to trade fairly; but after some time they took what was handed down to them, without making any return; one of them who had done so, upon being threatened, began to laugh, and with many imarks of derision set us at defiance, at the same time putting off the canoe from the ship: A musket was then fired over his head, which brought him back in a more serious mood, and trade went on with great regularity. At length, when the cabin and gun-room had got as much as they wanted, the men were allowed to come to the gang way, and trade for themselves. Unhappily the same care was not taken to prevent frauds as had been taken before, so that the Indians, finding that they could cheat with impunity, grew insolent again, and proceeded to take greater liberties. One of the canoes, having sold every thing on board, pulled forward, and the people that were in her seeing some linen hang over the ship's side to dry, one of them, without any ceremony, untied it, and put it up in his bundle: He was immediately called to, and required to return it; instead of which, he let his canoe drop astern, and laughed at us: A musket was fired over his head, which did not put a stop to his mirth; another was then fired at him with small shot, which struck him upon the back; he shrunk a little when the shot hit him, but did not regard it more than one of our men would have done the stroke of a rattan: He continued with great composure to pack up the linen that he had stolen. All the canoes now dropped astern about a hundred yards, and all set up their song of defiance, which they continued till the ship was distant from them about four hundred yards. As they seemed to have no design to attack us, I was not willing to do them any hurt; yet I thought their going off in a bravado might have a bad effect when it should be reported ashore. To show them therefore that they were still in our power, though very much beyond the reach of any missile weapon with which they were acquainted, I gave the ship a yaw, and fired a four-pounder so as to pass near them. The

shot