390 



VOYAGE IN SEARCH 



without the fmallefl: provocation having been 



given for this atrack. 



Fortunately thefe treacherous iflanders had not 

 hurt any one, and the Efperance's officers had 

 fired at them only to frighten them. 



A little time after, we fent two boats to 

 found along the coaft feverai bights, v. here we 

 hoped to find good anchorages. We were 

 miflaken ; it v/as necelTary to approach to wichin 

 the diflance of a hundred meters of the coaft, 

 to get bottom at thirty-five fiithoms ; and at a 

 hundred meters farther off in the offing, it 

 could not be reached with a lineofnxty fathoms. 



Notwithftanding the terror which the mufket 

 fhots fired on their countrymen ought natu- 

 rally to have fpread among the inhabitants, 

 there neverthelefs came alonglide fome who 

 had fet off from the very place where the others 

 had taken refuge. They behaved to us with a 

 great deal of difhonefty, agreeiii.; at any price for 

 us to let them have our articles of traffic, and as 

 ibon as they got hold of them, they ;vould not 

 give us any thing; however, one of them con- 

 fented to part with a flute and a necklace, 

 v.hich are reprcfented in FlcJie XXXVlll. ri^. 

 26 and 27. 



I remiarked one of thefe favages, who, like 

 the iniidbitants of New Zealaad, wore fufpendcd 



