37?0 ROUND THE WORLD. 1()1 



familiar. One of them, at our desire, threw his lance, 

 which was about eight feet long: it flew with a swift- 

 ness and steadiness that surprised us, and though it 

 was never more than four feet from the ground, it 

 entered deeply into a tree at fifty paces' distance. 

 After this they ventured on board, where I left them, 

 to all appearance, much entertained, and went again 

 with Mr. Banks to take a view of the country ; but 

 chiefly to indulge an anxious curiosity, by looking 

 round us upon the sea, of which our wishes almost 

 persuaded us we had formed an idea more disadvan- 

 tageous than the truth. After having walked about 

 seven or eight miles along the shore to the north- 

 ward, we ascended a very high hill, and were soon 

 convinced that the danger of our situation was at 

 least equal to our apprehensions ; for in whatever 

 direction we turned our eyes, we saw rocks and 

 shoals without number, and no passage out to sea but 

 through the winding channels between them, which 

 could not be navigated without the last degree of 

 difficulty and danger. We returned therefore to the 

 ship, not in better spirits than when we left it : we 

 found several natives still on board, and we were told 

 that the turtles, of which we had no less than twelve 

 upon the deck, had fixed their attention more than 

 any thing else in the ship. 



On the 19th, in the morning, we were visited by 

 ten of the natives, the greater part from the other 

 side of the river, where we saw six or seven more, 

 most of them women, and, like all the rest of the 

 people we had seen in this country, they were stark 

 naked. Our guests brought with them a greater 

 number of lances than they had ever done before, 

 and having laid them up in a tree, they set a man and 

 a boy to watch them : the rest then came on board, 

 and we soon perceived that they had determined to 

 get one of our turtle, which was probably as great a 

 dainty to them as to us, They first asked us by signs 

 to give them one ; and being refused, they expressed, 



VOL. II. M 



