234 cook's second voyage dec. 



up, with two men and a dog. The men, on seeing 

 us, left their canoe, and ran up into the woods. This 

 gave me reason to suspect I should here get tidings 

 of the cutter. We went ashore, and searched the 

 canoe, where we found one of the rullock-ports of 

 the cutter, and some shoes, one of which was known 

 to belong to Mr. Woodhouse, one of our midshipmen. 

 One of the people, at the same time, brought me a 

 piece of meat, which he took to be some of the salt 

 meat belonging to the cutter's crew. On examining 

 this, and smelling to it, I found it was fresh. Mr. 

 Fannin (the master) who was with me, supposed it 

 was dog's flesh, and I was of the same opinion ; for 

 I still doubted their being cannibals. But we were 

 soon convinced by most horrid and undeniable proof. 



" A great many baskets (about twenty) lying on 

 the beach tied up, we cut them open. Some were 

 full of roasted flesh, and some of fern-root, which 

 serves them for bread. On farther search, we found 

 more shoes and a hand, which we immediately knew 

 to have belonged to Thomas Hill, one of our fore- 

 castle men, it being marked T. H. with an Otaheite 

 tattow-instrument. 1 went with some of the people 

 a little way up the woods, but saw nothing else. 

 Coming down again, there was a round spot covered 

 with fresh earth about four feet diameter, where 

 something had been buried. Having no spade, we 

 began to dig with a cutlass ; and in the mean time I 

 launched the canoe with intent to destroy her ; but 

 seeing a great smoke ascending over the nearest hill, 

 I got all the people into the boat, and made what 

 haste I could to be with them before sun-set. 



" On opening the next bay, which was Grass Cove, 

 we saw four canoes, one single and three double 

 ones, and a great many people on the beach, who, on 

 our approach, retreated to a small hill within a ship's 

 length of the water-side, where they stood talking to 

 us. A large fire was on the top of the high land be- 

 yond the woods, from whence, all the way down the 



