THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
201 
berries, that had been kept fince the laft year. Whilft we 1779. 
were at dinner in this miferable hut, the guefts of a peo- May * 
pie, with whofe exiftence we had before been fcarce ac¬ 
quainted, and at the extremity of the habitable globe, a 
folitary, half-worn pewter fpoon, whofe fhape was familiar 
to us, attracted our attention; and, on examination, we 
found it ftamped on the back with the word London . I 
cannot pafs over this circumftance in lilence, out of gra¬ 
titude for the many pleafant thoughts, the anxious hopes, 
and tender remembrances it excited in us. Thole, who 
have experienced the effefts that long abfence and ex¬ 
treme difiance from their native country produce on the 
mind, will readily conceive the pleafure fuch trifling in¬ 
cidents can give. To the philofopher and the politician 
they may perhaps fuggeft reflections of a different na¬ 
ture. 
We were now to quit the river, and perform the next 
part of our journey on fledges; but the thaw had been 
too powerful in the day-time, to allow us to fet out, till 
the cold of the evening had again made the furface of the 
fnow hard and firm. This gave us an opportunity of 
walking about the village, which was the only place we 
had yet feen free from fnow fince we landed in this coun¬ 
try. It flood upon a well-wooded flat, about a mile and 
a half in circumference. The leaves were juft budding, 
and the verdure of the whole fcene was ftrongly contrafted 
with the fides of the furrounding hills, which were ftill 
covered with fnow. As the foil appeared to me very ca¬ 
pable of producing all the common forts of garden vege¬ 
tables, I was greatly furprized not to find the fmalleft fpot 
any where cultivated. If to this we add, that none of the 
inhabitants were pofTeffed of cattle of any fort, nothing 
Vol. III. D d can 
