hold of, and affifted him in scrambling from one ledge to another, though upon thefe ledges there was footing only for an Indian or goat. One of these ropes was nearly thirty feet in length, and their guides offered to affist them in mounting this pafs, but recommended 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 choose 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 often feen before. During this excurfion, Mr. Banks had an excellent opportunity to examine the rocks, which were almost every where naked, for minerals; but he found not the leaft appearance of any. The ftones every where, like those of Madeira, fhewed manifeft tokens of having been burned; nor is there a fingle fpecimen of any ftone, among all thofe that were collected in the ifland, upon which there are not manifeft and indubitable marks of fire, except perhaps fome small pieces of the hatchet-ftone, and even of that, other fragments were collected, which are burned almoft to a pumice. Traces of fire are alfo manifeft in the very clay upon the hills; and it may, therefore, not unreasonably be fuppofed, that this, and the neighbouring iflands, are either fhattered remains of a continent, which fome have fuppofed to be neceffary in this part of the globe, to preferve an equilibrium of its parts, which were left behind when the reft funk, by the mining of a fubterraneous fire, fo as to give a paffage to the fea over it; or were torn 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 thefe fuppofitions will, perhaps, be thought the more probable, as the water does not gradually grow fhallow, as the fhore is approached, and the islands are almost every where furrounded by reefs, which appear to be rude and broken, as fome violent concuffion would naturally leave the folid fubftance of the earth. It may also be remarked, upon this occafion, that the most probable cause of earthquakes feems to be the fudden rufhing in of water upon fome vaft maís 1769. July. 1769. mafs of fubterraneous fire, by the inftantaneous rareJuly. faction of which into vapour, the mine is fprung, and various fubftances, in all ftages of vitrification, with fhells, and other marine productions, that are now found foffil, and the ftrata that covered the furnace, are thrown up; while those parts of the land which were supported upon the broken fhell give way, and fink into the gulph. With this theory the phænomena of all earthquakes feem to agree; pools of water are frequently left where land has fubfided, and various fubftances, which manifeftly appear to have fuffered by the action of fire, are thrown up. It is indeed true, that fire cannot subsist 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 by which a communication. between those parts and the external air may be kept up, even upon the highest mountains, and at the greatest distance from the fea-fhore. Tuesd. 4. On the 4th, Mr. Banks employed himself in planting a great quantity of the feeds of water-melons, oranges, lemons, limes, and other plants and trees which he had collected at Rio de Janeiro. For thefe he prepared ground on each fide of the fort, with as many varieties of foil as he could choose; and there is little doubt but. that they will fucceed. He alfo 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 a 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 thip, our water being already on board, and the provifions examined. In the mean time we had another vifit from Oamo, Oberea, and their fon and daughter; the Indians expreffing their refpe&t by uncovering the upper parts of their body, as they had done before. The daughter, whofe name we understood 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 Waheatua, the fove reign of Tiarrabou, the fouth-east peninfula, was alfo' 1769. with us at this time; and we received intelligence of the landing of another guest, whofe 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 enterprize in despair. On the 7th, the carpenters were employed in taking Friday 7. down the gates and pallifadoes of our little fortification, for fire-wood on board the ship; and one of the Indians had dexterity enough to fteal the ftaple and hook upon which the gate turned; he was immediately pursued, and after a chace of fix miles he appeared to have been paffed, having concealed himself among some rushes in the brook; the rushes were searched, and tho' the thief had escaped, a scraper was found, which had been stolen from the ship fome time before; and foon after our old friend Tubourai Tamaide brought us the staple. On the 8th and 9th, we continued to dismantle our Saturd. 8. fort, and our friends ftill flocked about us; fome, I be- Sunday 9. lieve, forry at the approach of our departure, and others defirous to make as much as they could of us while we stayed. We were in hopes that we should now leave the ifland, 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 companions also slightly 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 difpleafed 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 1769. July. Monday 10. 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 stay behind. I knew that I could take no effectual steps to recover them, without endangering the harmony and good-will which at present fubfifted among us; and, therefore, determined to wait a day for the chance of their return. On Monday morning the 10th, the marines, to my great concern, not being returned, an enquiry was made after them of the Indians, who frankly told us, that they did not intend to return, and had taken refuge in the mountains, where it was impoffible for our people to find them. They were then requested to affift in the fearch, and, after fome deliberation, two of them undertook to conduct fuch perfons as I fhould think proper to send after them to the place of their retreat. As they were known to be without arms, I thought two would be fufficient, and accordingly dispatched a petty officer, and the corporal of the marines, with the Indian guides, to fetch them back. As the recovery of these men was a matter of great importance, as I had no time to lose, and as the Indians spoke doubtfully of their return, telling us, that they had each of them taken a wife, and were become inhabitants of the country, it was intimated to feveral of the Chiefs who were in the fort with their women, among whom were Tubourai Tamaide, Tomio, and Oberea, that they would not be permitted to leave it till our deferters were brought back. This precaution I thought the more neceffary, as, by concealing them a few days, they might compel me to go without them; and I had the pleasure to obferve, that they received the intimation with very little figns either of fear or difcontent; affuring me that my people should be fecured and fent back as soon as poffible. While this was doing at the fort, I fent Mr. Hicks in the pinnace to fetch Tootahah on board the ship, which he did, without alarming either him or his people. people. If the Indian guides proved faithful and in earneft, I had reafon to expect the return of my people with the deferters before evening. Being disappointed, my fufpicions increased; and night coming on, I thought it was not safe to let the people whom I had detained as hostages continue at the fort, and I therefore ordered Tubourai Tamaide, Oberea, and fome others, to be taken on board the thip. This fpread a general alarm, and several of them, especially the women, expreffed their apprehenfions with great emotion and many tears, when they were put into the boat. I went on board with them, and Mr. Banks remained on fhore, with some others whom I thought it of less confequence to fecure. 1769. July. About nine o'clock, Webb was brought back by fome of the natives, who declared, that Gibfon, and the petty officer and corporal would be detained till Tootahah fhould be fet at liberty. The tables were now turned upon me; but I had proceeded too far to retreat. I immediately dispatched Mr. Hicks in the long-boat, with a ftrong party of men, to rescue the prifoners, and told Tootahah that it behoved him to fend fome of his people with them, with orders to afford them effectual affistance, and to demand the release of my men in his name, for that I fhould expect him to anfwer for the contrary. He readily complied; this party recovered my men without the leaft oppofition, and, about feven o'clock in the morning, returned with them to the fhip, Tues. 11. though they had not been able to recover the arms which had been taken from them when they were feized thefe, however, were brought on board in lefs than half an hour, and the Chiefs were immediately fet at liberty. : When I queftioned the petty officer concerning what had happened on fhore, he told me, that neither the natives who went with him, nor thofe whom they met in their way, would give them any intelligence of the deferters; but, on the contrary, became very troublefome that as he was returning for further orders to the ship, he and his comrade were fuddenly feized by a number of armed men, who having learned that Tootahah was confined, had concealed themfelves in a wood for that purpose, and, who having taken them at a difadvantage, forced their weapons out of their hands, |