DISCOVERY OF BOWDITCH ISLAND 



petrels, and other birds are now about our vessel, and 

 these, with an occasional shark and the gambols and spout- 

 ings of whales, diversify our little world of sky and water. 



" I have lately finished a letter to John, which will give 

 you some account of the beginning of the cruise we are 

 just finishing. We left the Sandwich Islands early in De- 

 cember last, to spend the winter months under the equa- 

 tor or in its vicinity. I carried John along to the Duke 

 of York's Island, north of the Navigator group. From 

 the Duke of York's we sailed for the Duke of Clarence's, 

 which we passed without landing. The next night we 

 came near running down a low island not in the charts. 

 It was seen by the officer of the mid-watch just in time 

 to avoid its dangerous reefs. As it proved to be a new 

 discovery, we named it Bowditch island. We delayed a 

 day or two in the neighborhood, and visited the principal 

 town. The island is one of the low coral structures so 

 common in these seas. A few low green islets are dis- 

 tributed along a coral reef, which curve around, enclosing 

 a lagoon. The village was situated upon one of the 

 smallest of these islets on the west side of the island, and 

 was so hidden by the crowded cocoanut palms, that we 

 could see from the ship only a few huts and low coral 

 walls along the edge of the grove. 



" Nearing the shore in our boats, we observed the 

 natives collected together on the coral flats in front of 

 the village. One or two advanced toward us, waving a 

 white mat as an emblem of peace, and thus encouraged, 

 we landed and followed on, with our arms, however, at 

 our sides, ready for any emergency. Instead of hostility, 

 we found the natives terrified with our strange appear- 

 ance. The king, a venerable old man of gray hairs, 

 trembled in every limb, and a tear now and then started 

 down his affrighted face. Cocoanuts and fine mats 

 almost their only property were brought forward to 

 conciliate us, and thrown in heaps at our feet. Many 

 made very significant motions, intimating that we were 

 gods come down from the sun. We showed them every 

 kindness we could devise, giving them presents of fish- 

 hooks, knives, and various trinkets, and endeavored to 

 satisfy them that we were men like themselves. But 

 when we left them to return aboard, they asked us 

 whether we were now going back to the sun. To pacify 



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