162 VOYAGE TO THE 



of whom assembled round the prize, never probably 

 having had so large a piece of iron in their possession 

 before. 



At noon on the 5th the watering was completed, 

 and without any accident or sickness, which, consi- 

 dering the difficulty of getting the casks off, and 

 the constant exposure of the seamen to a vertical sun 

 while in the water, there was every reason to appre- 

 hend. It was further satisfactory to find that this 

 service had been effected without any harm to the 

 natives, except in one instance, when a marine in- 

 considerately fired at a party who were lurking in 

 the wood, and wounded one of them in the foot. 

 From the disposition of the inhabitants, and the 

 superiority of their numbers, there was reason to 

 apprehend a different result; and the quietness with 

 which it was conducted must be attributed to their 

 being kept at a distance during its performance. 



The boats were now sent to survey the groupe, 

 and were kept constantly employed upon it from 

 daylight to dusk. In the course of this examination 

 every part was visited, and we had frequent com- 

 munication with the natives, who on such occasions 

 were always civil, and brought such supplies of fruit 

 and food as their scanty means afforded, and gene- 

 rally abstained from the indulgence of their propen- 

 sity for thieving, which when numerous they so 

 fully indulged. Their behaviour was indeed so dif- 

 ferent from what it had been, that we must attribute 

 it to the operation of fear, as their numbers were 

 then very small, in consequence of our visits being 

 unexpected and the population of each village very 

 limited. The net we had taken off the shore was 

 carried round to the principal village and offered in 



