POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
II 
The whole scene was enlivened by the numerous boats, 
with their white and singularly shaped sails, incessantly 
gliding to and fro on the smooth surface of the water, and 
the shipping of different nations riding at anchor in the 
bay, or moored to the shore. Among the vessels, which 
exhibited almost every variety of size and form, those by 
no means least interesting to us, were two British frigates; 
one of which was the Alceste, on her way to China, to 
join Lord Amherst’s embassy. These objects excited in 
our minds a variety of pleasing sensations, heightened by 
the circumstance of the country before us being almost 
the first land we had seen since leaving England. 
There is something very exhilarating in approaching 
land, or entering a friendly port, after a long voyage ; and 
the pleasure we felt on this occasion was so much in¬ 
creased by the novel and delightful landscapes inces¬ 
santly opening to our view, as we sailed along the bay, 
that we were unwilling for a moment to leave the deck. 
Our enjoyment was, however, interrupted by a spectacle 
adapted to awaken sensations very different indeed from 
those inspired by the loveliness and peace of the scenery 
around us. 
We had proceeded about half way to the anchorage, 
when we approached a brig sailing also into the harbour, 
which, as we came alongside of her, appeared to be a 
slave ship returning from the coast of Africa. The 
morning was fine and the air refreshing, and this had 
probably induced the cruel keepers to bring their wretched 
captives up from the dungeons of pestilence and death 
in which they had been confined. The central part of 
the deck was crowded with almost naked Africans, con¬ 
stituting part of the cargo of the gloomy looking 
vessel. 
