62 ELLICE'S AND KINGSMILL GROUP. 



half a dozen barbs from the tail of the raja or stingray, which is sup- 

 posed to prove mortal, if broken off in the wound. They have also a 

 club, about four feet long, made from the cocoanut-wood, which is 

 pointed at each end ; it is used for warding oft' a spear, to make a 

 thrust, or wielded as a club. 



In the use of tobacco, they are truly disgusting, for they eat it and 

 swallow it, with a zest and pleasure indescribable. Their whole mind 

 seems bent upon obtaining this luxury, and consequently it will com- 

 mand their most valuable articles. 



They are, to all appearance, a lawless race, and no sort of govern- 

 ment seems to control them ; all seize upon whatever property they can, 

 and, as has been before mentioned, the very chiefs themselves were 

 subject to the same treatment that they observed towards our party; 

 the greatest villains and bullies among them seemed to have the most 

 control; while the chiefs had little more than nominal authority, and if 

 they had any privileges, they did not seem to extend beyond their small 

 enclosures. 



There is neither wood nor water to be obtained at this island, and 

 no inducement to visit it, except to trade for a few cocoa-nuts and 

 curiosities. 



Good whaling-ground exists in the vicinity, and our whalemen are 

 in the habit of cruising in this neighbourhood : those who visit these 

 wretches ought to keep a constant guard against treachery, for their 

 numbers are large, and they are prone to mischief. All intercourse 

 with them should, therefore, be conducted with great caution, espe- 

 cially in ships weakly manned. 



It is to be hoped that the punishment inflicted on Utiroa for the 

 murder of Anderson will be long remembered, and prove a salutary 

 lesson to the numerous and thickly-peopled towns of Taputeouea, or 

 Drummond's Island. 



On the same evening, (the 9th,) they weighed anchor, and on the 

 next day made Bishop's or Sydenham Island, which they surveyed the 

 following day. 



Off the north point of Bishop's Island, there is a shoal extending one 

 and a half miles to the northward and westward, the water on which 

 is discoloured, and where the Peacock found nine fathoms. The native 

 name for Bishop's or Sydenham Island, is Nanouti ; it lies in latitude 

 00° 30' S., and longitude 174° 24' E. ; it is of coral formation, and a 

 mere ledge of land, like Drummond's Island, with a lagoon, reef, and 

 bank, on its lee or southwest side. The survey made it nineteen miles 

 long, trending northwest and southeast, and its width, including lagoon 

 and reef, eight and a half miles. On the southwest and northwest 



