JOHN LEDYARD. 273 







guides. I took with me some presents adapted to 

 the taste of the Indians, brandy in bottles, and 

 bread, but no other provisions. I went entirely 

 unarmed, by the advice of Captain Cook. The first 

 day we proceeded about fifteen miles into the in- 

 terior part of the island without any remarkable 

 occurrence, until we approached a village just before 

 night. This village consisted of about thirty huts, 

 eome of them large and spacious, though not very 

 high. The huts are composed of a kind of slight 

 frame erected over a square hole sunk about four 

 feet into the ground : the frame is covered at the 

 bottom with turf, and upward it is thatched with 

 coarse grass. The whole village was out to see us, 

 and men, women, and children crowded about me. 

 I was conducted, by the young chief who was my 

 guide and seemed proud and assiduous to serve me, 

 into one of the largest huts. I was surprised at the 

 behavior of the Indians ; for, though they were 

 curious to see me, yet they did not express that 

 extraordinary curiosity that would be expected had 

 they never seen a European before, and I was glad 

 to perceive it, as it was an evidence in favor of what I 

 wished to find, namely, that there were Europeans 

 now among them. The women of the house, which 

 were almost the only ones I had seen at this island, 



were much more tolerable than I expected to find 



s 



