200 cook's voyage TO FEB. 



of such officers as I could depend upon, and who 

 were well acquainted with the natives. During my 

 former visits to this country, I had never taken some 

 of these precautions ; nor were they, I firmly believe, 

 more necessary now than they had been formerly. 

 But after the tragical fate of the Adventure's boat's 

 crew in this Sound, and of Captain Marion du Fresne, 

 and of some of his people, in the Bay of Islands *, it 

 was impossible totally to divest ourselves of all appre- 

 hension of experiencing a similar calamity. 



If the natives entertained any suspicion of our re- 

 venging these acts of barbarity, they very soon laid 

 it aside. For, during the course of this day, a great 

 number of families came from different parts of the 

 coast, and took up their residence close to us ; so 

 that there was not a spot in the cove where a hut 

 could be put up, that was not occupied by them, 

 except the place where we had fixed our little en- 

 campment. This they left us in quiet possession of; 

 but they came and took away the ruins of some old 

 huts that were there, as materials for their new erec- 

 tions. 



It is curious to observe with what facility they 

 build these occasional places of abode. I have seen 

 above twenty of them erected on a spot of ground, 

 that, not an hour before, was covered with shrubs 

 and plants. They generally bring some part of the 

 materials with them ; the rest they find upon the 

 premises. I was present when a number of people 

 landed, and built one of these villages. The mo- 

 ment the canoes reached the shore, the men leaped 

 out, and at once took possession of a piece of ground, 

 by tearing up the plants and shrubs, or sticking up 

 some part of the framing of a hut. They then re- 

 turned to their canoes, and secured their weapons, 

 by setting them up against a tree, or placing them in 

 such a position, that they could be laid hold of in an 



in 1772, 



