villages, and much cultivated land; the country in general appeared more fertile than before, and was low near the sea, but hilly within. At six in the evening, being four leagues to the westward of East Cape, we passed a bay which was first discovered by Lieutenant Hicks, and which therefore I called Hicks's Bay. At eight in the evening, being eight leagues to the westward of the Cape, and three or four miles from the shore, I shortened sail, and brought-to for the night, having at this time a fresh gale at S.S.E. and squally; but it soon became moderate, and at two in the morning, we made sail again to the S.W. as the land now trended; and at eight o'clock in the morning, saw land, which made like an island, bearing west, the south-westermost part of the main bearing south-west; and about nine no less than five canoes came off, in which were more than forty men, all armed with their country pikes and battle-axes, shouting and threatening an attack; this gave us great uneasiness, and was indeed what we did not expect; for we hoped, that the report both of our power and clemency had spread to a greater extent. When one of these canoes had almost reached the ship, another, of an immense size, the largest that we had yet seen, crowded with people, who were also armed, put off from the shore, and came up at a great rate; as it approached it received signals from the canoe that was nearest to the ship, and we could see that it had sixteen paddles on a side, beside people that sat, and others that stood in a row from stem to stern, being in all about sixty men: As they made directly to the ship, we were desirous of preventing an attack, by showing what we could do; and therefore fired a gun, loaded with grape-shot, a-head of them: This made them stop, but not retreat; a round shot was then fired over them, and upon seeing it fall, they seized their paddles and made towards the shore with such precipitation, that they seemed scarcely to allow themselves time to breathe. In the evening, three or four more canoes came off unarmed; but they would not venture with a musket-shot of the vessel. The Cape, off which we had been threatened with hostilities, I called, from the hasty retreat of the enemy, Cape Runaway. It lies in latitude 37° 32′; longitude 181° 48'. In this day's run, we found that the land, which made like an island in the morning, bearing west, was so; and we gave it the name of White Island. At At day-break on the 1st of November, we counted no less than five-and-forty canoes that were coming from the shore towards the ship: Seven of them came up with us, and after some conversation with Tupia, sold us some lobsters and muscles, and two conger eels. These people traded pretty fairly: When they were gone, some others came off from another place, who began also to trade fairly; but after some time they took what was handed down to them, without making any return; one of them who had done so, upon being threatened, began to laugh, and with many marks of derision set us at defiance, at the same time putting off the canoe from the ship: A musket was then fired over his head, which brought him back in a more serious mood, and trade went on with great regularity. At length, when the cabin and gun-room had got as much as they wanted, the men were allowed to come to the gangway, and trade for themselves. Unhappily the same care was not taken to prevent frauds as had been taken before, so that the Indians, finding that they could cheat with impunity, grew insolent again, and proceeded to take greater liberties. One of the canoes, having sold every thing on board, pulled forward, and the people that were in her seeing some linen hang over the ship's side to dry, one of them, without any ceremony, untied it, and put it up in his bundle: He was immediately called to, and required to return it; instead of which, he let his canoe drop astern, and laughed at us: A musket was fired over his head, which did not put a stop to his mirth; another was then fired at him with small shot, which struck him upon the back; he shrunk a little when the shot hit him, but did not regard it more than one of our men would have done the stroke of a rattan: He continued with great composure to pack up the linen that he had stolen. All the canoes now dropped astern about a hundred yards, and all set up their song of defiance, which they continued till the ship was distant from them about four hundred yards. As they seemed to have no design to attack us, I was not willing to do them any hurt; yet I thought their going off in a bravado might have a bad effect when it should be reported ashore. To show them therefore that they were still in our power, though very much beyond the reach of any missile weapon with which they were acquainted, I gave the ship a yaw, and fired a four-pounder so as to pass near them. The shot shot happened to strike the water, and rise several times at a great distance beyond the canoes: This struck them with terror, and they paddled away without once looking behind them. About two in the afternoon, we saw a pretty high island bearing west from us; and at five, saw more islands and rocks to the westward of that. We hauled our wind in order to go without them, but could not weather them before it was dark. I therefore bore up, and ran between them and the main. At seven, I was close under the first, from which a large double canoe, or rather two canoes lashed together at the distance of about a foot, and covered with boards so as to make a deck, put off, and made sail for the ship: This was the first vessel of the kind that we had seen since we left the South Sea islands. When she came near, the people on board entered very freely into conversation with Tupia, and, we thought, showed a friendly disposition; but when it was just dark, they ran their canoe close to the ship's side, and threw in a volley of stones, after which they paddled ashore. We learnt from Tupia, that the people in the canoe called the island which we were under Mowtohora; it is but of a small circuit, though high, and lies six miles from the main; on the south side is anchorage in fourteen fathom water. Upon the main land, S. W. by W. of this island, and apparently at no great distance from the sea, is a high round mountain, which I called Mount Edgecumbe: It stands in the middle of a large plain, and is therefore the more conspicuous; latitude 37° 59′, longitude 183° 7′. In standing westward, we suddenly shoaled our water from seventeen to ten fathom; and knowing that we were not far from the small islands and rocks which we had seen before dark, and which I intended to have passed before I brought-to for the night, I thought it more prudent to tack, and spend the night under Mowtohora, where I knew there was no danger. It was indeed happy for us that we did so; for in the morning, after we had made sail to the westward, we discovered a-head of us several rocks, some of which were level with the surface of the water, and some below it: They lay N.N.E. from Mount Edgecumbe, one league and a half distant from the island Mowtohora, and about nine miles from the main. We passed between these rocks and the main, having from ten to seven fathom water. This morning, many canoes and much people were seen along the shore; several of the canoes followed us, but none of them could reach us, except one with a sail, which proved to be the same that had pelted us the night before. The people on board again entered into conversation with Tupia; but we expected another volley of their ammunition, which was not indeed dangerous to any thing but the cabin windows. They continued abreast of the ship about an hour, and behaved very peaceably; but at last the salute which we expected was given; we returned it by firing a musquet over them, and they immediately dropped astern and left us, perhaps rather satisfied with having given a test of their courage by twice insulting a vessel so much superior to their own, than intimidated by the shot. At half an hour after ten, we passed between a low flat island and the main: The distance from one to the other was about four miles, and the depth of water from ten to twelve fathom. The main land between this flat island and Mowtohora is of a moderate height, but level, pretty clear of wood, and full of plantations and villages. The villages, which were larger than any we had yet seen, were built upon eminences near the sea, and fortified on the land side by a bank and ditch, with a high paling within it, which was carried all round: Beside a bank, ditch, and pallisadoes, some of them appeared to have out-works. Tupia had a notion that the small inclosures of pallisadoes, and a ditch that we had seen before, were Morais, or places of worship; but we were of opinion that they were forts, and concluded that these people had neighbouring enemies, and were always exposed to hostile attacks. At two o'clock we passed a small high island, lying four miles from a high round head upon the main. From this head the land trends N.W. as far as can be seen, and has a rugged and hilly appearance. As the weather was hazy, and the wind blew fresh on the shore, we hauled off for the weathermost island in sight, which bore from us N.N.E. distant about six or seven leagues. Under this island, which I have called the Mayor, we spent the night. At seven in the morning it bore S. 47 E. distant 'The latter opinion was the more correct, as might be readily shewn; but it is not purposed to treat of the subject till we come to the account of the 3d voyage.-E. distant six leagues, and a cluster of small islands and rocks bore N. E. distant one league, to which I gave the name of the Court of Aldermen. They lie in the compass of about half a league every way, and five leagues from the main, between which and them lie other islands, most of them barren rocks, of which there is great variety: Some of them are as small in compass as the Monument of London, but rise to a much greater height, and some of them are inhabited. They lie in latitude 36° 57′, and at noon bore S. 60 E. distant three or four leagues; and a rock like a castle, lying not far from the main, bore N. 40 W. at the distance of one league. The country that we passed the night before, appeared to be well inhabited, many towns were in sight, and some hundreds of large canoes lay under them upon the beach; but this day, after having sailed about fifteen leagues, it appeared to be barren and desolate. As far as we had yet coasted this country from Cape Turnagain, the people acknowledged one Chief, whom they called Teratu, and to whose residence they pointed, in a direction that we thought to be very far inland, but afterwards found to be otherwise. About one o'clock three canoes came off to us from the main, with one-and-twenty men on board. The construction of these vessels appeared to be more simple than that of any we had seen, they being nothing more than trunks of a single tree hollowed by fire, without any convenience or ornament. The people on board were almost naked, and appeared to be of a browner complexion; yet naked and despicable as they were, they sung their song of defiance, and seemed to denounce against us inevitable destruction: They remained, however, some time out of stones throw, and then venturing nearer, with less appearance of hostility, one of our men went to the ship side, and was about to hand them a rope; this courtesy, however, they thought fit to return by throwing a lance at him, which having missed him, they immediately threw another into the ship: Upon this a musquet was fired over them, which at once sent them away. About 2 We are elsewhere told, that "When they were at too great a distance to reach us with a lance, or a stone, they presumed that we had no weapon with which we could reach them; here then the defiance was given, and the |