494 THE PROGRESS OE MARITIME DISCOVERY. 



'One of the boldest immediately jumped into a boat and offered 

 to guide them on condition of receiving the proffered reward. 

 The bargain -was gladly struck, and the Frenchmen, piloted by 

 the negro, eagerly pushed off from shore. 



The coral reef which forms an enormous girdle round Vanikoro 

 approaches the land opposite to the village of Paiou, so that the 

 distance between them is hardly a mile. There, in a channel 

 dividing the breakers, the savage caused the boat to stop, and 

 made signs to the Frenchmen to look down to the bottom, where 

 they saw anchors, cannons, and other objects scattered about and 

 overgrown with corals. No doubt now remained, and with deep 

 emotion they gazed on these last memorials of the unfortunate 

 expedition of La Peyrouse. Metal alone had been able to 

 resist the tooth of time, the rolling waters, or the gnawing ship- 

 worm ; all wood-work was gone. 



I have already stated that on D'Urville's arrival he found the 

 natives extremely distrustful and shy, answering all his questions 

 by negations. It was evident that their conduct towards La 

 Peyrouse had been anything but hospitable, and that they now 

 feared the tardy vengeance of the white men. But, finding 

 themselves treated with invariable kindness, their fears gradually 

 gave way, and thus it became possible to gather some informa- 

 tion about the catastrophe from some old men who had witnessed 

 it, and from the most intelligent of the chiefs. 



After a dark and stormy night the islanders saw early on the 

 following morning an enormous pirogue stranded on the coral 

 reef on the south side of the island. The surf soon destroyed 

 the ship, and but a small number of the crew reached the shore 

 in a boat. On the following day a second large pirogue stranded 

 opposite Paiou. But this wreck lying on the lee-side of the 

 island, less exposed to the surf, and resting on a more even 

 ground, remained a longer time without going to pieces. The 

 whole of the crew escaped in the boats to Paiou, where they 

 built a small vessel, and after a stay of five months once more 

 embarked, and were never heard of since. Most likely they had 

 steered towards New Ireland, with the intention of ultimately 

 reaching the Moluccas or the Philippine Islands, and perished on 

 some unknown reef. The unhealthy condition of D'Urville's 

 crew prevented him from extending his researches any further 

 along the western coasts of the Solomon Islands. That the 



