146 SIGNAL FOR A PILOT. 
to the flag hoisted at the foremast, as a signal for 
a pilot. We soon saw a European boat steer- 
ing towards us; it brought us a pilot, who, to 
our great surprise, addressed us in the Russian 
language, having recognized our flag as belong- 
ing to that nation: he was an Englishman of the 
name of Williams, who had first been a sailor 
on board a merchant ship, afterwards entered 
the service of the Russian American Company 
on the north-west coast of America, and was at 
length settled for life in Tahaiti. His wife was 
a native of the island; he was the father of a 
family, and carried on the occupation of a pilot 
in the Bay of Matarai. Wanderers of this kind 
often settle in the islands of the South Sea; but 
while they bring with them many vices peculiar 
to the lower classes in civilized life, are generally 
too ignorant and rough to produce any favour- 
able influence on the natives. They are not all 
liable to this censure; and of about twenty Eng- 
lish and Americans whom I found so natu- 
ralized in Tahaiti, some assuredly do not de- 
serve It. 
Having a pilot on board, we steered direct 
for the extreme point of Cape Venus, where 
