FOLXT^ESIAN RESEARCHES. 
159 
we might not only understand the theory, but witness 
the process of grinding canes, boiling the juice, and 
granulating the sirup, so as to introduce it among the 
inhabitants of the Leeward Islands. 
. Our business at Tahiti being finished, Messrs. BarlF, 
Williams, and myself, with a number of natives, sailed 
from Eimeo about noon, on the 12th of August, in an 
open boat belonging to Mr. Hayward. Before the sun 
had set, we had nearly lost sight of the island ; and 
when the night gathered round us, we found ourselves in 
the midst of the vast Pacific, in a very small and fragile 
bark, without compass or nautical instrument, or any 
other means of directing our way than the luminaries of 
heaven. The night, however, was cloudless, and 
“ Star after star, from some unseen abyss, 
Came through the sky, till all the firmament 
Was thronged with constellations, and the sea 
Strown with their images.^^ 
The interval between the close of the evening and the 
dawn of the following day was pleasantly spent; and soon 
after sun-rise, on the morning of the 13th, we were glad¬ 
dened by the sight of the lofty mountains in Huahine, 
which were seen above the line of clouds that rested on 
the western horizon. About five in the afternoon of the 
same day, Mr. Barff and myself were restored to the 
bosom of our families; thankful for the guidance and 
protection we had enjoyed on the voyage, and the merci¬ 
ful care which those we left had experienced. 
The facility with which the manufacture of sugar might 
be carried on by the people, and the certain market it 
would always find in Port Jackson should they be able 
to furnish more than their own necessities required. 
