October. 



■v- -I 



THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 



ofity, and accordingly every foul on board was upon deck "79 

 in an inftant, to gaze at them. As the vcflel to windward 

 approached us, fhe hauled farther off more ; upon which, 

 fearing that we mould alarm them by the appearance of a 

 purfuit, we brought the mips to, and me pa/fed ahead of 

 us, at the diftance of about half a mile. It would have 

 been eafy for us to have fpoken with them ; but perceiving, 

 by their manoeuvres, that they were much frightened, Cap- 

 tain Gore was not willing to augment their terrors ; and, 

 thinking that we fliould have many better opportunities of 

 communication with this people, fuiTered them to go off 

 without interruption. Our diftance did not permit us to re- 

 mark any particulars regarding the men on board, who 

 feemed to be about fix in number, efpecially as the hazinefs 

 of the weather precluded the ufe of ourglaffes. According 

 to the beft conjectures we were able to form, the veffel was 

 about forty tons burthen. She had but one mart, on which 

 was hoifted a fquare fail, extended by a yard aloft, the 

 braces of which worked forward. Half-way down the fail, 

 came three pieces of black cloth, at equal distances from 

 each other. The vefTel was higher at each end than in the 

 midfhip ; and we imagined, from her appearance and form, 

 that it was impoffible for her to fail any otherwife than 

 large. 



At noon, the wind frefhened, and brought with it a good 

 deal of rain ; by three, it had increafed fo much, that we 

 were reduced to our courfes ; at the fame time, the fea ran 

 as high as any one on board ever remembered to have feen 

 it. If the Japanefe vefTels are, as Kaimpfer defcribes them, 

 open in the ftern, it would not have been poffible for thofe 

 we faw, to have furvived the fury of this ftorm ; but as the 

 appearance of the weather, all the preceding part of the 

 Vol. III. 3 F day, 



431 



