FROM RHODES TO THE GULPH OF GLAtCVS. 157 
During the time we remained in Maori Bay, the aglias of 
the country were at war : marauding pat ties, profiting by the 
general tumult, had set fire to several villages. It was there¬ 
fore dangerous to venture far from the coast. Indeed, the sea 
side was not without its dangers. Captain Castle, venturing 
along the beach, in search of a convenient place to obtain a 
supply of fresh water, fell into the hands of a party of the na 
lives, as wild and savage in their appearance as any of the 
tribes of Caucasus. We found him surrounded by 'twenty- 
five armed men, who had taken his dirk from him, and w ho 
seemed very mischievously disposed. One of these fellows, 
a sturdy mountaineer, wore, by way of ornament, one of the 
buttons of a British naval officer’s uniform. We could not learn 
how he obtained this. As our interpreter was not with us, it 
was proposed that we should adopt a method resorted to 
Captain Cooke in such situations, and prevail upon some of 
these men by signs, to accompany us on board. Four of 
them consented, among who was the chief- They followed us 
to the place where the boat was stationed, but expressed visible 
uneasiness, and began to call loudly to their companions on 
shore, as we stretched out from the land toward the Tauride. 
We conducted them, however, upon deck, when a new dilem¬ 
ma occurred ; for captain Castle, conceiving that he had been 
Insulted by these men, insisted upon fighting with their chief. 
It was with difficulty we could prevent this from being no- 
iiced by the party who had ventured with us ; but getting 
them all at last into the cabin, and having appeased our wor¬ 
thy captain, by pointing out the danger to which he would ex¬ 
pose others of our countrymen, in offending the natives of a 
coast frequented at that time by our ships for wood and waiter, 
he consented to overlook the indignity. After .giving them a 
dram each, with a little gunpowder, some Constantinople pipes, 
tobacco, and coffee, they were so gratified, that, we might per¬ 
haps have ventured with them, even to Koynucky, whither 
they offered to escort us. We contented ourselves, however, 
in gaining their permission to botanize unmolested around the 
guiph, and for that purpose accompanied them back to their 
companions. 
We landed upon the western side of the bay, near the place 
laid down in the chart as the most convenient for watering ships, 
where a river empties itself into the guiph. Here we found 
ruins of several buildings, situated in pools of stagnant water 
and most unwholesome marshes. The sands were covered with 
P 
