194 



A VOYAGE TO 



'778- and we fnent it ftandinsr off and on. The next morninsr, 



January. i o «j 



wc flood in for the land, and were met with feveral canoes 



Tuefday 20. 



filled with people ; fome of whom took courage, and ven- 

 tured on board. 



hi the courfe of my feveral voyages, I never before met 

 with the natives of any place fo much aftonifhed, as thefe 

 people were, upon entering a fhip. Their eyes were con- 

 tinually flying from obje(ft to obje<fl; the wildnefs of their 

 looks and geflurcs fully exprefTmg their entire ignorance 

 about every thing they faw, and flrongly marking to us, 

 that, till now, they had never been vifited by Europeans, 

 nor been acquainted with any of our commodities, except 

 iron ; which, however, it was plain, they had only heard 

 of, or had known it in fome fmall quantity, brought to 

 them at fome diflant period. They feemed only to nnder- 

 Hand, that it was a fubftance, much better adapted to the 

 purpofcs of cutting, or of boring of holes, than any thing 

 their own country produced. They afked for it by the name 

 of hamaitey probably referring to fome inflrument, in the 

 making of which iron could be ufefully emj)loyed ; for they 

 applied that name to the blade of a knife, though we 

 could be certain that they had no idea of that particular in- 

 Ihument ; nor could they, at all, handle it properly. Tor 

 the fame rcafon, they frequently called iron by the name 

 of /o<f, which, in their language, fignifies a hatchet, or ra- 

 ther a kind of adze. On afking them what iron was, they 

 immediately anfwercd, " We do not know ; you know what 

 it is, and wc only underfland it as toe, or hamaitc" When 

 we flicwed them fome beads, they afked full, " What they 

 were; and then, whether they fhould cat them." But on 

 their being told, that they were to be hung in their ears, 

 ihey returned them as ufelcfs. They were equally indif- 

 ferent 



