UPOLU — MANONO — SAVAII. 119 



The soil is fertile, and was composed in every part of the island 

 that was visited, of decomposed volcanic rock, and vegetable mould. 



The Porpoise, having taken Dr. Pickering and Lieutenant Maury 

 again on board, set sail for Tutuila, for the purpose of joining the 

 Vincennes, and beat to windward along the south side of Upolu. 

 During this passage many of the crew became sick, which rendered 

 it necessary to stop for a few days at Pago-pago, in order to recruit 

 them. Here they all speedily recovered, except one man, named 

 David Blodget, who died. The disorder was attributed to the damp- 

 ness of the vessel. 



The delay in the arrival of the Porpoise at Apia caused me to send 

 the Flying-Fish to Tutuila, whence they both returned to Apia. 



Previous to sailing, at the pressing instance of the chiefs, I ordered 

 the marines and small-arm men of the squadron, in all about one 

 hundred and fifty, to be sent on shore, with their music, for exercise. 

 They had been well drilled to act on shore should occasion require, 

 and were provided for the occasion with blank cartridges. The 

 natives from far and near were collected to witness the review, and 

 few scenes that occurred during the voyage were as amusing as this. 

 The old and young were equally delighted, and it was ludicrous to 

 see them endeavouring to imitate the soldiers, in their marches and 

 countermarches. They were not satisfied unless the drummers were 

 constantly beating, and were particularly delighted with the bass- 

 drum. The firing occasioned some alarm at first, but when they saw 

 it did no harm, they became reconciled to it, although even to the 

 last they would scamper off to a distance at each discharge. 



The review left an impression on their minds of the superiority of 

 our arms that will not soon be forgotten. 



The men were embarked at sunset, and had many jokes to relate 

 of the conduct of the natives, and particularly old Pea, who on this, 

 as on other occasions, acted as master of the ceremonies. 



During our stay in this group, we experienced two slight shocks of 

 earthquakes, their occurrence here is not unusual, but there is no 

 account of any damage having been done. Their motion is generally 

 tremulous and horizontal ; one, however, has been experienced of a 

 wavy description. They are said by the foreigners often to produce 

 the sensation of sea-sickness. 



On the 10th of November, the whole squadron was assembled in 

 the harbour of Apia, after having been actively engaged since the 

 8th of October in examining the different islands, and making 



