OF LA. P AROUSE. 329 



ihofe who accompanied us apprized us of the 

 danger to which they thought that I fhould ex- 

 pofe myfelf : they ihewed me a fmall flied, and re- 

 peated feveral times, with an air of refpect min- 

 gled with fear, the word tnatai, before our inter- 

 preter came to explain to us, that by this term, 

 which lignifies a dead body, they meant to defig- 

 nate the former pofleffor.of this garden, who had 

 Jbeen buried under the little fned that we faw. 

 Thefe inhabitants have a perfuafion that the foul 

 of the deceafed wanders round thofe places, 

 watching to preferve their produce for the prefent 

 proprietor : they believe, that any other petfon 

 who fhould poffefs himfelf of it would die within 

 the year. This opinion is fo generally difTufcd, 

 tha it feldom happens that a native, in fuch cir- 

 cumftances, ventures to touch the property of 

 another ; and the matai is a bugbear which al- 

 moft always fecures the crop to the lawful po 

 fefTor. 



Tjie Admiral went on board to mufter the 

 fhip's companies ; on this occaiion he gave feve- 

 ral of them a flep. 



My collections were now fo numerous, and 

 required fo much attention, that I palled almoft 

 all the 24th in preparing them; but next day 

 Citizen Riche and 1 went up the river called Ba- 

 ton Ganton, which difcharges its waters into the 

 roadftead to the weft ward of the town. It is 



confined 



