TO GU AHON. ^241 



of the way was preserved by them in their songs, 

 and after this their pilots had found it. It is 

 really very remarkable that they did not miss an 

 inconsiderable island like Guahon, when the stars 

 and the songs were their only guides, in a voyage 

 of three hundred miles. When the Carolinians 

 visited Guahon in I788, they promised to return 

 in the following year. They kept their word ; but 

 on their voyage back were overtaken by a furious 

 storm, and found a watery grave, so that not 

 one of the brave seamen saved their lives, and, 

 after this circumstance, de Torres waited fifteen 

 years in vain for his friends, to whom he had be- 

 come attached on account of their gentle disposi- 

 tions. In the year 1804- the American ship Maria, 

 from Boston, took in provisions at Guahon : the 

 captain of it, Samuel WiUiam Boll, undertook, 

 with the super-cargo, Thomas Borman, a voyage 

 to the Carolinas, where he intended to make the 

 attempt to catch biches de mei^ *, and de Tori"es 

 embraced this opportunity of visiting his friends, 

 as the captain promised to bring him back to 

 Guahon. The Maria sailed in July, and the first 



* Biches de mer is a species of large snail without shells, and 

 is found in warm climates, particularly near coral reefs. This 

 snail is much sought for in the Chinese market ; the Chinese 

 consider it as a delicacy, and pay a great price for it, as they 

 ascribe to it the power to restore health and vigour. I have 

 eaten these snails at the Governor's, but found them quite in- 

 sipid. In Radack they arc found in abundance, in the basin of 

 the island-group ; but the natives do not eat them. 

 VOL. II. B 



