THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
99 
only for a few minutes, it was covered with them; and i 777 . 
they foon pierced it full of holes, refembling a honey- Qftober ~, 
comb. They were particularly deftrudtive to birds, which 
had been fluffed and prelerved as curiofities; and, what 
was worfe, were uncommonly fond of ink; fo that the 
writing on the labels, fattened to different articles, was 
quite eaten out; and the only thing that preferred books 
from them, was the clofenefs of the binding, which pre¬ 
vented thefe devourers getting between the leaves. Ac¬ 
cording to Mr. Anderfon’s obfervations, they were of two 
forts, the blutta orientalise and germanica . The firft of 
thefe had been carried home in the ftiip from her former 
voyage, where they withftood the feverity of the hard 
winter in 1776, though fhe was in dock all the time. The 
others had only made their appearance lince our leaving 
New Zealand; but had increafed fo faft, that they now 
not only did all the mifchief mentioned above, but had 
even got amongft the rigging; fo that when a fail was 
loofened, thoufands of them fell upon the decks. The 
orient ale Se though in infinite numbers, fcarcely came out 
but in the night, when they made every thing in the cabins 
feem as if in motion, from the particular noife in crawling 
about. And, befides their difagreeable appearance, they 
did great mifchief to our bread, which was fo befpattered 
with their excrement, that it would have been badly re- 
lilhed by delicate feeders. 
The intercourfe of trade, and friendly offices, was carried 
on, between us and the natives, without being difturbed by 
any one accident, till the evening of the 22d, when a man weckef. 22 . 
found means to get into Mr. Bayly’s obfervatory, and to 
carry off a fextant, unobferved. As foon as I w as made ac¬ 
quainted with the theft, I went afhore, and got Omai to ap- 
O 2 ply 
