128 



porter's journal. 



island possess no traditionary accounts of Mendaiia^s 

 having been there, for there cannot be a doubt as to the 

 hay where he anchored. Captain Cook, although he has 

 filched from it the name given by the Spaniards, iden- 

 tifies the place with that visited by Mendana ; and even 

 if he had not acknowledged it to be the same, the simila- 

 rity of their descriptions would put it beyond all doubt. 

 He first says, " on the 6th of April we discovered an island, 

 when we were in lat. 9°. 20'. and long, 138°. 14'. we were 

 about nine leagues distance from it. We soon discovered 

 another, more extensive than the former, and presently 

 afterwards a third and a fourth. These were the Mar- 

 quesas, discovered in 1595 by Mendana. After various 

 unsuccessful trials to come to an anchor, we came at last 

 before Mendana's port, and anchored in thirty-four fathoms 

 water, at the entrance of the bay." After which he gives 

 the following description of the bay where he anchored. 

 " The port of Madre de Dios, which was named Resolu- 

 tion Bay, is situated not far from the middle of the west 

 side of St. Christiana, under the highest land in the island. 

 The south point of the bay is a steep rock, terminating in 

 a peaked hill. The north point is not so high, and rises in 

 a more gentle slope. In the bay are two sandy coves ; in 

 each of which is a rivulet of excellent water. For wood- 

 ing and watering, the northern cove is most convenient. 

 We saw here the little cascade mentioned by Quiras, 

 Mendana's pilot ; but the village is in the other cove." 



I conceive it unnecessary to insert the Spanish descrip- 

 tion of the bay ; it is sufficient to show that Captain Cook 

 felt satisfied that this was the bay of La Madre de Dios, so 

 named by Mendana, to convince every one that it was the 

 same. It only seems strange that the natives should have 

 no accounts of his having been there, although the period 

 was also marked by the Spaniards with the blood of their 

 countrymen. Two centuries, however, are to these isl- 

 anders almost an eternity ; and during the time that has 

 elapsed, some circumstance unknown to us may have obli- 

 terated their traditions. 



The animals of the reptile kind are lizards and centi- 

 pedes — of the first, from some superstitious notions, the na- 

 tives are very much afraid, as they are also of their eggs ; they 

 are the common small hzard, and perfectly harmless. Of 



