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tirely died. The superstitious natives 
supposed the drought was sent upon 
them as a judgment, because myself and 
Lay were allowed to live. I informed 
them that we could neither make it rain 
nor prevent it; but some of them were 
cso ignorant that they believed we could 
control the weather. But some of the 
chiefs thought the drought was visited 
upon them because they had killed our 
shipmates, and I was always ready to 
Join with them in that opinion. The 
drought continued about four months 
with such severity that most of the 
breadfruit trees on the small Islands 
were so completely dried up that they 
never sprouted again. Many of the ig¬ 
norant natives still insisted that their 
sickness and drought were occasioned 
by suffering us to live upon their Isl¬ 
ands ; but this gross ignorance was 
counterbalanced by most of the chiefs* 
who believed differently, and to their 
more liberal opinion we are indebted 
for our lives. 
About this time the Islands were re- 
