Remarks thereon. 

 Release of prisoners. 



Fresh surveys made. Anganga Island. 

 The Porpoise joins the tender and boats. 



(of which material the houses are for the most part 

 built,) to a running fire of musketry, that every 

 one believed that a general fight was taking place 

 in the parts distant and opposite to him. 



About an hour sufficed to reduce the whole to 

 ashes, leaving the village a heap of smoking ruins. 

 We then returned to our boats in the same good 

 order in which we landed. 



The town of Tye contained about sixty dwellings, 

 built of bamboo, besides a number of yam-houses, 

 wherein they had gathered their crops. The upper 

 and outer yams were well roasted, but the heat 

 from the light material was of short duration, so 

 that few in reality were lost. Another small col- 

 lection of yam-houses, about a quarter of a mile 

 distant, was also burnt. 



Few things were found in the town, for the 

 natives had removed all the articles that could be 

 carried away. Three or four weeks of labour 

 would, therefore, suffice to rebuild their houses, 

 and restore them to the same state as before the 

 burning. 



There was no opposition made to this attack; all 

 the Feejee men had retired out of gun-shot, and 

 were only now and then seen from behind the 

 bushes, or on some craggy peak on the sides of the 

 neighbouring hills, from which they were occasion- 

 ally dislodged by our rockets. This firework pro- 

 duced consternation, and dispersed them in every 

 direction. As the boats were pulling off from the 

 shore, a few balls fell near us, but did no damage. 



The infliction of this punishment I deemed 

 necessary ; it was efficiently and promptly done, 

 and, without the sacrifice of any lives, taught these 

 savages a salutary lesson. 



In the first cutter was private and public pro- 

 perty to the value of above one thousand dollars, 

 which was all lost. 



By reference to my instructions, it will be seen 

 that cases of theft were expressly mentioned as 

 occasions that might require punishment to be 

 inflicted on the natives; yet this transaction formed 

 the gist of one of the charges preferred against me 

 by the administration, on my return to the United 

 States. 



The conduct of the officers and men on this 

 occasion showed a promptness and energy that 

 were highly creditable, and gave me the assurance 

 that they were as much to be depended upon in 

 dangers of this description, as I had hitherto found 

 them in others. 



The next day having become satisfied that the 

 Sualib chiefs who had been detained by Lieutenant 

 Perry had really meant to act a friendly part, I 

 determined, for the purpose of making the contrast 

 as strong as possible between those who had 

 offered aid and those who had stolen the cutter, 

 to reward the former for their good intentions. 



The next morning, all hands were called on deck, 

 and the prisoners brought to the gangway in 

 irons, expecting that their time was now come, 

 and exhibiting great fear, both in their counte- 

 nances and trembling limbs. Through David 

 Whippy, I then told them, that although appear- 

 ances were at first against them, I had satisfied 

 myself that they intended to act a friendly part in 

 assisting the launch, and as they had taken no 

 share in the robbery and capture of the boat, and 

 the people of their town had done nothing to 

 molest us, instead of punishing them, I should 



reward them with presents, and send them back 

 safely to their town. The joy that was depicted 

 on their countenances at this change can readily 

 be imagined. Their irons were then removed, and 

 the presents given. 



After thanking the officers and men for their 

 good conduct in this affair, we piped down, and 

 our several occupations were resumed. 



On the 16th of July, the tender and boats being 

 prepared, I ordered the following officers upon an 

 expedition : Assistant-Surgeon Fox, Acting-Master 

 Sinclair, Passed-Midshipman Eld, and Mr. Agate, 

 to accompany me in the tender; Lieutenant Alden 

 and Midshipman Henry in the first, and Lieute- 

 nant Underwood in the second cutter of the Vin- 

 cennes ; Lieutenant Emmons and Midshipman 

 Clark in the first cutter of the Peacock. The boats 

 being fully manned and armed, left the vessels in 

 the afternoon, for the island of Anganga. 



Orders were left with Captain Hudson to resurvey 

 the Bay of Mbua, (for I was not satisfied with the 

 survey that had been made,) including the outlying 

 reef, and after having completed this duty, to pro- 

 ceed with the Peacock round to Muthuata, and 

 then return for the Vincennes. It was my inten- 

 tion to circumnavigate the whole group of islands, 

 carrying meridian distances from island to island, 

 and likewise to complete and connect by triangula- 

 tion all the parts that required further examina- 

 tion. I proposed to return to Muthuata by the 

 north and east side of Vanua-levu. 



Having satisfied myself with observations on 

 Lakemba Point, I set out in the tender at eight 

 o'clock, P.M., in order to join the boats early the 

 next morning at Anganga Island, about thirty miles 

 from Mbua Bay. At 6 A.M. we anchored near the 

 west end of Anganga Island, where the boats soon 

 after joined us. Anganga Island is high, and very 

 much broken; it is not inhabited, and offers no- 

 thing but turtles in the season. 



At noon I was rejoiced to discover the Porpoise 

 in sight. She had been looked for during some 

 days, and I could not but feel anxious, knowing the 

 dangers with which the service I had sent her on 

 was surrounded. On her coming up, I ordered 

 signal to be made for her to anchor near us, and in 

 the afternoon we joined company. 



Here I pursued my observations, and while I 

 was congratulating myself that I had now finished 

 my last station of the survey, and that my meridian 

 distances and latitudes were all complete, it was 

 reported to me that the three boats were in sight, 

 coming down before the breeze. So unusual an 

 occurrence at once made me suspect that some ac- 

 cident had occurred; and on the first sight I got of 

 them, I found that their colours were half-mast 

 and union down. I need not describe the dread 

 that came over me. We reached the tender only 

 a few moments before them, and when they ar- 

 rived, I learned that a horrid "massacre had but a 

 short hour before taken place, and saw the muti- 

 lated and bleeding bodies of Lieutenant Joseph 

 A. Underwood and my nephew, Midshipman Wilkes 

 Henry. 



The boats were taken in tow, when we stood for 

 Malolo, and as the night closed in, anchored in its 

 eastern bay. 



It would not be easy to describe my feelings at 

 this time; the melancholy event of which I became 

 aware in its full extent by the return of the boats 

 R2 



