Vol. 11.) Foyage round the World, 4y the Frenchy in 19791-2- 
wafes of potters earth, tolerably well bak- 
ed, in which they preferved their water ; 
thefe vaies are manutaétured in an ifland 
mamed Sezdgy, lying, according to the 
beft accounts we could gather, about 100 
-.Jeagues to the north of the Bice where 
we were at anchor. 
Thefe iflands produce a ipécies . of nut- 
megs, which diffs very little in form 
from thofe of the Moluccas. It is not, 
however, aromatic, and is almoft twice 
as large. We colle&ted in the ifland a 
number of objects which may prove uie- 
ful for the ftudy of natural hiftory, 
We alfo procured the bread-fruit tree, 
for the purpofe of tran{porting it into 
our Weft-India iflands ; we were obliged 
to leave it, however, at Soura- baya, in 
the illand a Java. At our departure 
from thence, we took a receipt from La- 
HAYE, the Dutch gardener there,. for 
-_eleven young plants of this invaluable 
tree, and as many roots and ftocks, all in 
prime condition, which we had brought 
_away from the Friendly Mfiands, atter 
haying had them nearly eleven months in 
_our poffeffion. ‘The roots and plants to- 
gether amount to twenty-two, ail in high 
. prclervenon, and as the tree grows very 
“ yapidly, this quantity will iuffice to re- 
plenifh the Iflands with them, in fix or 
eight years time. ‘They were at Faruza- 
rang, in the ifland of awa, on the 20th 
of March, 1795. We mutt not con- 
. found this excellent fpeciés of bread fruit 
tree, with the wild {pecies of it found in 
the Moluccas, and oblerved for a long 
' time paft in the ifle of France. » In this 
fecond fort, the grains do not mifcarry, 
while in the good fruit tree, they are re- 
placed by a food truly delicicus, when 
' baked under afhes. cr in the oven. In 
other refpects it is a moft wholefome 
viand, affording us a pleafant repaft, dur- 
_ing the whole timé of our contiauarce on 
this ifla nd, and for which we willingly 
_selinguithed aur-fhip’s ftock of sibel 
bread. The Molucea fort: produces 
thirty or forty {mall fruits; while every 
tree of the Friendly Iflands produces 
three or four hundred, extremely large, 
of an oval form, the greatelt diameter be- 
ang from nine to ten inches, and the {mal- 
deft from feven to eight. A tree would 
ibe opprefled with fuch- an enormous load, 
af the fruit were to ripen all at once: but 
faga cious nature has fo ordered it, that 
the fruits fucceed each other, during 
eight months of the year, thus providing 
the nations with a food equally falubri- 
pus and plentiful. Every tree occupics 
~ gircular ace oF about thirty } feet dia- 
4 
' 
, 
963 
meter. A fingle acre occupied by this 
vegetable, woltld fupply the wants of @ 
number of families. Nothing in nature 
exhibits a fimilar fecundity. As it pro- 
duces no feeds, it has a wonderful faculty 
of throwing out fuckers: and its roots 
frequently force their way up to the fur- 
face of the earth, and there give birth to 
‘frefh plants. 
It thrives exceedingly in a tropical 
climate, in a foil fomewhat elevated above 
the level of the fea; and fuits very weil 
‘with a marly foil in which a mixture of 
argillaceous clay preponderates. 
“We guitted the Friendly Iflands on the 
roth of April, 1793- 
The next day’ we obferved a fmall 
ifland named % ortoife. 
Be 15th, we faw Errouan, the moft 
eaftern of the iflands of the Archipelago 
of the Holy Ghoft, and afterwards that 
of Avatom. ‘The eruptions of the volcano 
of Tana, prefented in the night a fpec- 
tacle truly fublime. 
April 27th, fteering for New Caled. 
mia, ina night darker than ufual, we ran 
among fome iflands furrounded with 
breakers, not noticed till then by navi- 
gators. We were only apprized of our 
danger by an uncommon circumitance, 
the flight of a fleck of fea fowl over our 
heads oui three o’clock in the morning. 
This indication of the proximity of land 
induced the officer upon watch to flackea 
fail, and lie to, at a critical SEMIS 
he an hour’s more failing muft have 
dafhed us to pieces apaintt the rocks. 
Thefe new-difcovered iilands lie about 
thirty leagues N. E. of New Caledonia, 
where we anchored April 18th. 
After the defeription that Coox and 
ones have given of the habitants 
f New Zealand, we expected to find 
Sold the advantageous portrait given 
of them by thofe celebrated voyagers. 
We had reafon, however, partly to fuf- 
pend our belief of thofe accounts, when 
we afterwards obferved a number of hu- 
man bones, broiled, which the favages 
were devouring, eagerly fattening on the 
{malleft tendinous parts which adhere to 
them. This fa& at leaft fuffices to 
prove, that the New Zealanders are 
cannibals. ‘They often attacked our 
boat; but the good countenance we ex- 
hibited prevented their affailing or maf- 
facring any of our company. Notwith- 
ftanding thefe hoftilities, the fhip was 
every day vifited by numerous bedies of 
the iflanders. The foil being every 
where barren, we perceived but few velti- 
Bespl any tals for agriculture; ftill, how. 
EVEL, 
