Jan. 

 1826. 



210 VOYAGE TO THE 



chap, loins as their only covering: some wore the hair tied 



VII. 



in a bunch upon one side of the head, others had a 

 plaited band tied round it. They were inferior to 

 the men in personal appearance, and mostly bow- 

 legged; but they exercised an authority not very 

 common among uncivilized people, by taking from 

 the men whatever articles they received in exchange 

 for their fruit, as soon as they returned to the shore. 

 The good-natured countenances of these people, the 

 honesty observed in all their dealings, and the great 

 respect they paid their women, bespeak them a more 

 amiable race than the avaricious Gambier Islanders. 



We quitted them about three o'clock in the af- 

 ternoon, and in a few hours after saw Thrum Cap 

 Island, bearing N. 56° 54' W. ; the clump on La- 

 goon Island at the same time bearing S. 58° 14/ E., 

 thirteen miles distant. This island, discovered and 

 so named by Captain Cook, is also of coral, three- 

 quarters of a mile in length, well wooded, and steep 

 all round. At a mile distance from it we could 

 get no bottom with 400 fathoms. We could per- 

 ceive no lagoon ; and the surf ran too high to admit 

 of landing. Some slabs placed erect, and a hut, 

 showed it had once been inhabited ; but the only 

 living things we saw were birds and turtle. M. 

 Bougainville gave this island the name of Les Lan- 

 ders, in consequence of the men whom he saw on 

 it, being armed with long spears, and who probably 

 were visiters from the island we had just left. 



From Thrum Cap we steered for Egmont Island, 

 the second discovery of Captain Wallis, which we 

 shortly saw from the mast-head, and by sunset were 

 close to it. The next morning the shore was very 

 carefully examined, and we found the reef so low 



