OF LA PEROUSE. I45 



holly his father, and brother to the King. They 

 both took pjreat p;:iin.s to explain to us all the 

 dignities of their family. 



'Tonga pave us repeated proofs of a quick 

 underllanding, and particularly when we fhew- 

 ed him a chart of . the Friendly Iflands, drawn 

 by Captain Cook. At firft he caft a hafty glance 

 at this Archipelago; then, flopping at Tonga- 

 taboo, he made us remark that there had been 

 laid down feveral reefs which did not exift ; 

 and told us that we fhould find, to the north- 

 well, a palTage, by which it would be very eafy 

 to gain the open fea with our ihips. This in- 

 formation wiis the more ufeful to us, as we in- 

 tended going out of this road (lead by the nar- 

 row channel which had ferved us as an entrance, 

 where no doubt we fnould have had to ftruggle 

 againfi the reigning v/inds, while with the fame 

 winds we had every facility of failing out by 

 this new channel. Tov^rj,^ offered to make us 

 acquainted v. iih it, and Vvillingly confented to 

 pafs the nig::t on I)o:ird, in order to conducft 

 thither, the next morning at day-break, Citi- 

 zen Beaupre, our geographical engineer, who 

 was to afccrtain its liLuation. 



In an excurfion which we made to the coun- 

 try the moft contiguous to our anchora^^^c, we 

 remarked, in the middle of a group of natives, 

 a yoimg girl, wlio had all the chara:lers of an 



VOL. II. L Albino. 



