310 VOYAGE TO THE 



chap. S entery and sickness among the poorer class of inha- 

 » — rw bitants, several of whom were labouring under these 

 f 8 p 2 n 6 l ; and other complaints during our stay. Miserable 

 indeed was the condition of many of them. They 

 retired from their usual abode and the society of 

 their friends, and erected huts for themselves in the 

 woods, in which they dwelt, until death terminated 

 their sufferings. The missionaries and resident Eu- 

 ropeans strove as much as was in their power to alle- 

 viate these distresses ; but the natives were so im- 

 provident and careless that the medicine often did 

 them harm rather than good, and many preferred their 

 own simple pharmacopoeia, and thus fell victims to 

 their ignorance. Our own ship's company improved 

 upon the abundance of fish and vegetable diet ; but 

 from what afterwards occurred, I am disposed to 

 think the change from their former food, to so much 

 vegetable substance was very injurious. Regard to 

 this subject ought not to be overlooked in vessels 

 circumstanced as the Blossom was. 



The winds during our stay were principally from 

 the eastward, freshening in the forenoon and mode- 

 rating toward sun-set to a calm, or giving place to a 

 light breeze off the land, which sometimes prevailed 

 through the night. This effect upon the trade- 

 wind, by comparatively so small a tract of coast, 

 shows the powerful influence of the land upon the 

 atmosphere. 



In the height of summer, or during the rainy sea- 

 son, the winds fly round to the W. and N. W. and 

 blow in gales or hard squalls, which it is necessary 

 to guard against in anchoring upon the north-west- 

 ern coast, particularly at Matavai Bay, which is 

 quite open to those quarters. The mean tempera- 



