416 MANILLA— PREPARATIONS FOR SAILING. [1830. 



charge six per cent, per annum. I agreed to his kind offer, and immedi- 

 ately commenced making arrangements for returning to the Massacre 

 Islands. 



Before I had proceeded far in these preparations, however, I wrote 

 to General Requorfort, who was then commander-in-chief of Luconia, 

 and all its dependencies, for permission to ship fifty natives of Manilla, 

 to complete my crew. His excellency answered my letter very 

 promptly and politely, stating that he had taken my misfortunes into 

 consideration; and that although it was contrary to the laws of the 

 port to take more than one-third of the crew natives of Manilla, yet 

 he would allow me to ship one or two hundred Manilla-men, if I 

 wished for that number. 



CHAPTER VII. 



Sail from Manilla for the Massacre Islands — The Bay and Town of Taal — Port 

 and Town of St. Joseph's — Ladrone Islands — Arrive at Bergh's Group' — 

 Friendship of the Natives — Their Canoes, Fishing Implements, &c. — Beauty 

 of the Women — Strength and Agility of the Men — Theological Notions — 

 Marriages, Deaths, Wars, &c. — Description of their Weapons, Houses, and Vil- 

 lages — Domestic Arrangements — Fertility and Capabilities of the Soil — Im- 

 portance of this Discovery — Equipments necessary for a Voyage to these 

 Islands — Depart for the Massacre Islands. 



In discovering the Massacre Islands, and examining the reefs and 

 shoals which surround them, I had gained the knowledge of one im- 

 portant fact ; which, though dearly purchased, was not the less valuable 

 and interesting to the votaries of commerce and science. I had as- 

 certained, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that these islands could 

 furnish the valuable productions of which I was in search, in greater 

 quantities, and of far superior quality, than could be obtained at the 

 Feejee Islands (our original destination), or at any other group which 

 I had ever yet visited. I therefore considered it a duty which I owed 

 to my employers, to my country, and to myself, to return immediately 

 to the Massacre Islands, with adequate means to ensure success ; and 

 to redeem, in some measure at least, the losses and disasters which 

 had hitherto attended this ill-fated enterprise. 



But I was also actuated by another motive, with which pecuniary 

 considerations had not the most distant connexion ; and weighed with 

 which they were " lighter than the dust in the balance." The impres- 

 sion was deeply engraven on m.y mind that one or more of the unfor- 

 tunate fourteen might have possibly escaped the general massacre, 

 and be now enduring " the horrors of a living death," as captives to 

 those ferocious blood-hounds. This idea still haunted me day and 

 night. It was constantly seated like an incubus upon my breast, 

 and I felt that nothing could remove it but a speedy return to the scene 

 of blood. This impression originated in the following facts : 



The work of destruction had but just commenced, when three of our 

 working-party had been seen to fly from the beach towards the woods, 



