54 cook's voyage to april, 



uous blasts succeeded each other pretty quick ; but 

 they were of short duration ; and in the intervals be- 

 tween them we had a perfect calm* According to 

 the old proverb, " misfortunes seldom come single ; M 

 the mizen was now the only mast on board the Reso- 

 lution that remained rigged, with its top-mast up. 

 The former was so defective that it could not support 

 the latter during the violence of the squalls, but gave 

 way at the head under the rigging. About eight 

 o'clock the gale abated ; but the rain continued with 

 very little intermission for several days ; and, that 

 the carpenters might be enabled to proceed in their 

 labours, while it prevailed, a tent was erected over 

 the foremast, where they could work with some de- 

 gree of convenience. 



The bad weather which now came on, did not, 

 however, hinder the natives from visiting us daily ; 

 and, in such circumstances, their visits were very 

 advantageous to us. For they frequently brought us 

 a tolerable supply of fish, when we could not catch 

 any ourselves with hook and line ; and there was not 

 a proper place near us where we could draw a net. 

 The fish which they brought us were either sardines, 

 or what resembled them much, a small kind of bream, 

 and sometimes small cod. 



On the 11th, notwithstanding the rainy weather, 

 the main-rigging was fixed and got over head ; and 

 our employment, the day after, was to take down the 

 mizen-mast, the head of which proved to be so rot- 

 ten that it dropped off while in the slings. In the 

 evening we were visited by a tribe of natives whom 

 we had never seen before ; and who, in general, were 

 better looking people than most of our old friends, 

 some of whom attended them. I prevailed upon 

 these visitors to go down into the cabin for the first 

 time ; and observed, that there was not a single ob- 

 ject that fixed the attention of most of them for a 

 moment; their countenances marking that they 

 looked upon all our novelties with the utmost indif- 



