JUNE 1769 THE TRANSIT OF VENUS 



95 



chief attendants ; we showed them the planet upon the sun, 

 and made them understand that we had come on purpose 

 to see it. I spent the rest of the day in examining the 

 produce of the island, and found it very nearly similar to 

 that of Otahite. The people, indeed, were exactly the 

 same. Many of them we had often seen at Otahite, and 

 every one knew well what kind of trade we had and the 

 value it bore in that island. The hills in general came 

 nearer to the water, and the plains were consequently 

 smaller and less fertile than in Otahite. The low point 

 near which we lay was composed entirely of sand and coral ; 

 here neither bread-fruit nor any other useful vegetables 

 would grow ; the land was covered with Pandanus sectorius, 

 with which grew several plants we had not seen at Otahite. 

 Among them was lleris} which Mr. Gore tells me is the 

 plant called by the voyagers scurvy grass, and which grows 

 plentifully upon all the low islands. 



4:th. What with presents and trade our stock of provi- 

 sions was so large that we were obliged to give away a large 

 quantity ; this done we put off, and before night arrived at 

 the tents, where we had the great satisfaction to find that the 

 observation there had been attended with as much success 

 as Mr. Green and the captain could wish, the day having 

 been perfectly clear, without so much as a cloud interven- 

 ing. We also heard the melancholy news that a large part 

 of our stock of nails had been purloined by some of the 

 ship's company during the time of the observation, when 

 everybody who had any degree of command was ashore. 

 One of the thieves was detected, but only seven nails out of 

 one hundredweight were found upon him, and he bore his 

 punishment without impeaching any of his accomplices. 

 This loss is of a very serious nature, as these nails, if circu- 

 lated by the people among the Indians, will greatly lessen 

 the value of iron, our staple commodity. 



5th. During our absence at Imao an old woman of some 

 consequence died, and was placed not far from the fort to 

 rot above ground, as is the custom of the island. I went 



1 Lepidium piscidium, Forst. 



