MARINER AT TOFOA. 33 
summit of Tofoa, in company with a native 
guide, thought it necessary to provide himself 
with a pistol, as a defence against any violent 
measures on the part of his companion. Nor 
would he advance with him too near the crater 
of the volcano, " lest the man might have some 
sinister intent."* 
After the murder of Norton, on the first of May, 
many of the natives in canoes followed Bligh's 
boat very quickly, and renewed the assault with 
stones, of which they had brought a great 
quantity ; but, being attracted by some clothes 
which were, by his order, thrown to them, and 
which they stopped to pick up, they lost time, 
and abandoned the pursuit. 
It was then resolved by the party, at Bligh's 
instance, to make for a Dutch settlement on the 
island of Timor, in the East Indies, a distance 
of no less than 3,618 miles. 
Their stock of provisions then consisted of 
about 150 pounds of bread, 28 gallons of water, 
20 pounds of pork, 3 bottles of wine, and 20 
quarts of rum : a few cocoa-nuts were also in the 
boat. Such bread-fruit as they had was of no 
use, having been trampled to pieces in the bustle 
and confusion of the attack at Tofoa. 
The sufferings undergone by these eighteen 
men, in a boat only twenty-three feet in length, 
and six feet nine inches in breadth, heavily 
laden, and without any awning, were very 
severe. They had to encounter heavy storms, 
and the pains of cold and hunger. Aware of 
the vast tract of voyage before them, they pro-' 
* Mariner's " Tonga Islands," vol. i. chap. viii. 
