514 



HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



it was evident that they were running as slowly as they could, 

 and that their object was rather to facilitate than to prevent 

 their escape. Laperouse was not saved from spoliation by his 

 rank : a polite savage, having assisted him over an obstruction 

 in the path, removed his chapeau and fled with the utmost 

 rapidity. On re-embarking to return to the ships, only three 

 persons had handkerchiefs, and only two had caps. Laperouse 

 stayed but a day on this island, having nothing to gain and 

 every thing to lose. There was no fresh water to be found, the 

 natives drinking sea-water, like the albatrosses of Cape Horn. 

 In return for the hospitality with which they had been received, 

 Laperouse caused several fertile spots to be sown with beets, 

 -cabbages, wheat, carrots, and squashes, and even with orange, 

 lemon, and cotton seeds. "In short," says Lape'rouse, "we 

 loaded them with presents, overwhelmed with caresses the 

 young and children at the breast ; we sowed their fields with 

 useful grains ; we left kids, sheep, and hogs to multiply upon 

 their island ; we asked nothing in exchange ; and yet they 

 robbed us of our hats and handkerchiefs, and threw stones at 

 us when we left." The following reflection, which concludes 

 Laperouse's account of Easter Island, could only have pro- 

 ceeded from a Frenchman : — " I decided to depart during the 

 night, flattering myself that when, upon the return of day, they 

 should find our vessels gone, they would attribute our departure 

 to our just resentment at their conduct, and that this conclusion 

 might render them better members of society." 



Lape'rouse now sailed to the northeast, intending to touch at 

 the Sandwich Islands, — a distance of five thousand miles. He 

 hoped to make some discovery during this long stretch, and 

 placed sailors in the tops, animated by the promise of a prize 

 to discover as many islands as possible. In the furtherance of 

 this design, the two frigates sailed ten miles apart,— by which 

 the visible horizon was considerably extended. Lape'rouse was 

 destined, however, to owe his celebrity to his misfortunes and 



