70 ELLICE'S AND KINGSMILL GROUP. 



they pointed in a direction west of north, and called it Maraki, — 

 Matthew's Island ; and the other Taritari and Makin, which they said 

 were two days' sail, and which was believed to be Pitt's Island. 



In the centre of the little village was one of the sacred stones, which 

 was described by Kirby as an object of worship. It consisted of a flat 

 slab of coral rock, about three feet high and two wide, set up on end and 

 dressed with a thick wreath of cocoanut-leaves. It was placed in the 

 centre of a circular platform of sand and pebbles, about nine feet in 

 diameter, raised five or six inches above the soil, and surrounded by a 

 ring of stones. At the foot of the coral slab were several large cocoa- 

 nuts, placed there as an offering to the divinity, whom the natives 

 styled Tabu-eriki. The wood-cut at the end of the next chapter is a 

 drawing of one. The priest, a young man, with a mild and intelligent 

 countenance, remained constantly near the stone, never quitting the 

 platform for a moment. The houses were built like those of Drum- 

 mond's Island, but the scuttles into the lofts were much larger, occa- 

 sionally occupying half the dividing floor. In some of the houses there 

 were two or three floors or stages, the second about two feet above the 

 first. 



In the survey of this island the tender got aground inside the lagoon. 

 The moment that it was discovered by the natives that the vessel was 

 on shore, they began to flock around her, and were only kept off by 

 being fired at. Lieutenant Emmons did not join her with the boats till 

 after dark, when he found her situation such as to require great vigi- 

 lance on the part of the officers and men to preserve her. She had 

 taken the coral reef at high water, and the tide was rapidly falling, 

 leaving her on her bilge, and rendering her guns of no use for protec- 

 tion. The natives were making signals by burning fires, blowing war- 

 conchs, and evincing every disposition to attack her. 



Captain Hudson, who observed the situation of the tender at sunset, 

 determined to keep the Peacock close to the island throughout the 

 night, to be near at hand to despatch boats in case of signal being 

 made that they required more aid, should the natives show a disposi- 

 tion to make an attack, and overpower the force that had already gone 

 to the tender's assistance. The Peacock was hove-to, with a moderate 

 breeze blowing, and from the fires seen during the night they believed 

 themselves close to the position they had taken at sunset. At daylight, 

 while lying-to, they drifted on a coral sand-bank, where the ship was 

 aground for a few minutes only. Their surprise was great when they 

 found that it was Tarawa or Knox's Island, on which they were 

 ashore, on its northwest side, and that they had drifted fully twelve 

 miles by current to the southward during the night. On board of the 



