OF LA PEROUSE. 269 



As the Admiral purpofed anchoring the next 

 day in Gracious Bay, the night was fpent (land- 

 ing oiFand on. 



Several fires v.ere blazing on the fliore, to 

 which \;e were (o ne:ir as to difiinguifh the 

 voice of the inhabitants, \vhofceri.ed to addrefs 

 their difcourfc to us. We let oft foine l]\y- 

 rockets, with a view of occafioning them an 

 agreeable furprife, and prefently fhouts of ad- 

 miration ilTucd from different points of the 

 coafl ; but the mofl profound filence fucceeded 

 thefe demonftrations of joy, notwithftanding 

 we let off feveral more rockets. 



During the night of the 23d, we perceived 

 on Volcano Ifland, no indication to lead us to 

 imagine that it ftill contained fubterraneous 

 fire. This little ifland could not contain in its 

 bowels a quantity of combuftible matter fuf- 

 ficient to feed inceffantly the volcanic flames 

 which Captain Carteret had obferved in it 

 twenty-fix years before*. 



The fouth-eaft wind continued during the 

 night, and even the next day, to bar againft us 

 the entrance of the bay, at a lasall diftance 

 from which flood a great number of huts built 

 under the fliade of cocoa-palms planted along 

 a fandy beach. 



Prefently 



* See Hawkefworth's Ci//;/?;ev c/ Fnj.-r^fi. vol. I, page 

 562. 4to edition. T, 



