, 10 AVOYAGETO 



»7?9- liking of their guides, that, by the morning, they had all 



Marti. ° . , ^ 



.taken theniielves oil, except one. 



The want of provifiohs now making it necefTary to return 

 to Come of the cultivated parts of the iffand, they quitted 

 the wood by the fame path they had entered it ; and, on 

 their arrival at the plantations, were furrounded by the na- 

 tives, of whom they purchafed a frefh ftock of neceffaries ; 

 and prevailed upon two of them to fupply the place of the 

 guides that were gone away. Having obtained the beft in- 

 formation in their power, with regard to the direction of 

 their road, the party being now nine in number, marched 

 along the fkirts of the wood for fix or feven miles, and then 

 entered it again by a path that bore to the Eaftward. For . 

 the firft three miles, they palled through a foreft of lofty 

 fpice-trees, growing on a ftrong rich loam ; at the back of 

 which they found an equal extent of low fhrubby trees, with 

 much thick underwood, on a bottom of loofe burnt ftones. 

 This led them to a fecond foreft of fpice-trees, and the fame 

 rich brown foil, which was again fucceeded by a barren 

 ridge of the fame nature with the former. This alternate 

 l'ucccffion may, perhaps, afford matter of curious fpecula- 

 tion to naturalifls. The only additional circumllancc I could 

 learn relating to it was, that thefe ridges appeared, as far as 

 they could be feen, to run in directions parallel to the fea- 

 fhore, and to have Mouna Roa for their centre. 



In pairing through the woods, they found many canoes 

 half-fin ithed ; and, here and there, a hut; but faw none of 

 the inhabitants. Having penetrated near three miles into 

 the fecond wood, they came to two huts, where they Hopped, 

 exceedingly fatigued with the day's journey, having walk- 

 ed not lei's than twenty miles, according to their own com- 

 putation. As they had met with no fprings, from the time 



they 



