17^0. ROUND THE WORLD. 287 



the issue of his negociation : they immediately ga- 

 thered round him, and continued in a body above an 

 hour, without seeming to take any farther notice of 

 us. We were more curious than they, and observ- 

 ing them with our glasses from on board the ship, we 

 saw some of them cross the river upon a kind of raft, 

 or catamarine, and four of them carry off the dead 

 body which had been covered by the boy, and over 

 which his uncle had performed the ceremony of the 

 branch, upon a kind of bier, between four men : the 

 other body was still suffered to remain where it had 

 been first left. 



After dinner, I directed Tupia to ask the boys, if 

 they had now any objection to going ashore, where 

 we had left their uncle, the body having been car- 

 ried off, which we understood was a ratification of 

 peace : they said, they had not ; and the boat being 

 ordered, they went into it with great alacrity : when 

 the boat, in which I had sent two midshipmen, came 

 to land, they went willingly ashore ; but soon after 

 she put off, they returned to the rocks, and wading 

 into the w^ater, earnestly entreated to be taken on 

 board again ; but the people in the boat, having 

 positive orders to leave them, could not comply. 

 We were very attentive to what happened on shore, 

 and keeping a constant watch with our glasses, we 

 saw a man pass the river upon another raft, and fetch 

 them to a place where forty or fifty of the natives 

 were assembled, who closed round them, and con- 

 tinued in the same place till sun-set : upon looking 

 again, when we saw them in motion, we could plainly 

 distinguish our three prisoners, who separated them- 

 selves from the rest, came down to the beach, and 

 having waved their hands three times towards the 

 ship, ran nimbly back, and joined their companions, 

 who walked leisurely away towards that part which 

 the boys had pointed to as their dwelling-place ; we 

 had therefore the greatest reason to believe that 



