3 AVOYAGETO 
HAP. liated his friendftiip. This was a fortunate ftep, as he 
XIX 
_ afterwards often fliowed his authority by checking the 
moil: infolent of his people when they preffed forward 
and endeavoured to fteal whatever they could feize. One 
feaman holding his cutlafs rather carelefsly had it fnatched 
from him, and the thief had fo well watched his oppor- 
tunity, that he was almofl out of fight before he was 
diftinguilhed. Notwithftanding the offers of the natives 
in the canoes, I could not procure above thirty cocoa- 
nuts, and thofe green ; whether it was that the people 
did not comprehend my figns, or that they were not 
inclined to carry on the traffic. Thefe iflanders were 
well limbed men, moderately tall, with long hair: many 
of them chewed the betel nut, and thefe were all fur- 
niflied with a fmall hollow ftick, apparently of ebony, 
out of which they ftruck a kind of powder like lime 
Their arms were a lance, and a kind of adze hung over 
the flioulder; fome men carrying one, and others two. 
Thefe adzes were of iron, and evidently of European 
manufad:ure. As the place where we landed was very 
rocky and unpleafint for walking, when I found myfelf 
unfuccefsful in the chief obje6l for which I was fent out, 
I returned as expeditioufly as I could. In return for my 
prefents, the old chief gave one to me which was not 
equally acceptable. It was a mixture of fiHi, yams, and 
* This was the Chinajn^ or coral, burnt to lime, always ufed with the betel. 
See Wilfon''s Account^ p. 2'/. The Areca is the nut, the leaves only of betel 
are ufed. Thefe are produced by different plants. 
3 
many 
