rious. There are four, which seem to belong to the trochili, or honey-suckers of Linnæus; one of which is something larger than a bullfinch; its colour is a fine glossy black, the rump, vent, and thighs, a deep yellow. It is called by the natives hoohoo. Another is of an exceedingly bright scarlet colour; the wings black, and edged with white, and the tail black; its native name is eeeeve. A third, which seems to be either a young bird, or a variety of the foregoing, is variegated with red, brown, and yellow. The fourth is entirely green, with a tinge of yellow, and is called akaiearooa. There is a species of thrush, with a grey breast, and a small bird of the flycatcher kind; a rail, with very short wings and no tail, which, on that account, we named rallus ecaudatus. Ravens are found here, but they are very scarce; their colour is dark-brown, inclining to black, and their note is different from the European. Here are two small birds, both of one genus, that are very common; one is red, and generally seen about the cocoa-nut trees, particularly when they are in flower, from whence it seems to derive great part of its subsistence, the other is green; the tongues of both are long and ciliated, or fringed at the tip. A bird with a yellow head, which, from the structure of its beak, we called a parroquet, is likewise very common. It however by no means belongs to that tribe, but greatly resembles the lexia flavicans, or yellowish cross-bill of Linnæus.

Here are also owls, plovers of two sorts, one very like the whistling plover of Europe; a large white pigeon; a bird with a long tail, whose colour is black, the vent and feathers under the wing (which is much longer than is usually seen in the generality of birds, except the birds of paradise) are yellow; and the common water or darker hen.

Their vegetable productions are nearly the same with the rest of the South Sea islands. I have before mentioned that the tarrow root is much superior to any we had before tasted, and that we attributed this excellence to the dry method of cultivating it. The bread-fruit trees thrive here, not in such abundance, but produce double the quantity of fruit they do on the rich plains of Otaheite. The trees are nearly of the same height, but the branches begin to strike out from the trunk much lower, and with greater luxuriance. Their sugar-canes are also of a very unusual size. One of them was brought to us at Atooi, measuring eleven inches

and a quarter in circumference, and having fourteen feet eatable.

At Oneeheow they brought us several large roots of a brown colour, shaped like a yam, and from six to ten pounds in weight. The juice, which it yields in great abundance, is very sweet, and of a pleasant taste, and was found to be an excellent substitute for sugar. The natives are very fond of it, and use it as an article of their common diet; and our people also found it very palatable and wholesome. We could not learn to what species of plant it belonged, having never been able to procure the leaves; but it was supposed, by our botanists, to be the root of some kind of fern.

Agreeably to the practice of Captain Cook, I shall subjoin an abstract of the astronomical observations which were made at the observatory in Karakakooa Bay, for determining its latitude and longitude, and for finding the rate and error of the time-keeper. To these are subjoined the mean variation of the compass, the dip of the magnetic needle, and a table of the latitude and longitude of the Sandwich Islands.

The latitude of the observatory, deduced

from meridian zenith distances of the sun, eleven stars to the south, and four stars to the north of the zenith The longitude of the observatory, deduced from 253 sets of lunar observations; each set consisting of six observed distances of the moon from the sun or stars; 14 of the above sets were only taken at the observatory, 105 sets being taken whilst cruising off Owhyhee, and 134 sets when at Atooi and Oneeheow, all these being reduced to the observatory, by means of the timekeeper

The longitude of the observatory, by the time-keeper, on the 19th January, 1779, according to its rate, as found at Greenwich

The longitude of the observatory, by the time-keeper, on the 19th January, 1779, according to its rate, corrected

19° 28' 0" N.

204 0 0 E.

214 7 15 E.

at

at different places, and last at Samganoodha Harbour, in Oonalaschka The daily rate of the time-keeper losing on mean time, was 9", 6; and, on the 2d February, 1779, it was 14" 41' 1" too slow for mean time.

The variation of the compass, by azimuths, observed on shore with four different compasses

The variation of the compass, by azimuths, observed on board the Resolution, with four different compasses Dip of the north

pole of the magnetic needle on shore, with

203° 37' 22" E.

8 6 0 E.

7 32 O E.

Balanced needle

40 22 30 E.

Dip of the north pole of the magnetic needle on

Balanced needle

41 50 0

board, with

A Table of the Latitude and Longitude of the Sandwi

SECTION VII.

General Account of the Sandwich Islands continued.-Of the Inhabitants.-Their Origin.-Persons.-Pernicious Effects of the Ava.-Numbers.-Disposition and Manners-Reasons for supposing them not Cannibals.-Dress and Ornaments.-Villages and Houses.-Food.-Occupations and Amusements.-Addicted to Gaming-Their extraordinary Dexterity in Swimming.-Arts and Manufactures.- Curious Specimens of their Sculpture.-Kipparee, or Method of Painting Cloth.-Mats.- Fishing Hooks.-Cordage.-Salt Pans.-Warlike Instruments.

THE inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands are undoubtedly of the same race with those of New Zealand, the Society and Friendly Islands, Easter Island, and the Marquesas; a race that possesses, without any intermixture, all the known lands between the latitudes of 47° S. and 20° N., and between the longitudes of 184° and 260° E. This fact, which, extraordinary as it is, might be thought sufficiently proved by the striking similarity of their manners and customs, and the general resemblance of their persons, is established, beyond all controversy, by the absolute identity of their lan guage.

From what continent they originally emigrated, and by what steps they have spread through so vast a space, those who are curious in disquisitions of this nature, may perhaps not find it very difficult to conjecture. It has been already observed, that they bear strong marks of affinity_to some of the Indian tribes that inhabit the Ladrones and Caroline islands; and the same affinity may again be traced amongst the Battas and Malays. When these events happened, is not so easy to ascertain; it was probably not very lately, as they are extremely populous, and have no tradition of their own origin, but what is perfectly fabulous; whilst, on the other hand, the unadulterated state of their general language, and the similarity which still prevails in their customs and manners, seem to indicate that it could not have been at any very distant period.

The

The nice and highly interesting subject now adverted to, it is evident,

The natives of these islands are in general above the middle size, and well made; they walk very gracefully, run nimbly, and are capable of bearing great fatigue; though, upon the whole, the men are somewhat inferior, in point of strength and activity, to the Friendly islanders, and the women less delicately limbed than those of Otaheite. Their complexion is rather darker than that of the Otaheitans, and they are not altogether so handsome a people. However, many of both sexes had fine open countenances, and the women, in particular, had good eyes and teeth, and a sweetness and sensibility of look, which rendered them very engaging. Their hair is of a brownish black, and neither uniformly straight, like that of the Indians of America, nor uniformly curling, as amongst the African negroes, but varying in this respect like the hair of Europeans. One striking peculiarity in the features of every part of this great nation, I do not remember to have seen any where mentioned; which is, that even in the handsomest faces, there is always a fulness of the nostrils, without any flatness or spreading of the nose, that distinguishes them from Europeans. It is not improbable that this may be the effect of their usual mode of salutation, which is performed by pressing the ends of their noses together.

The same superiority that is observable in the persons of the Erees, through all the other islands, is found also here. Those whom we saw were, without exception, perfectly well formed; whereas the lower sort, besides their general inferiority, are subject to all the variety of make and figure that is seen in the populace of other countries. Instances of deformity are more frequent here than in any of the other islands. Whilst we were cruising off Owhyhee, two dwarfs came on board, one an old man, four feet two inches high, but exactly proportioned, and the other a woman, nearly of the same height. We afterward saw three natives who were hump-backed, and a young man born without hands or feet. Squinting is also very common amongst them; and a man who, they said, had been born blind, was brought to us to be cured. Besides these particular imperfections, they are, in general, very subject to boils and ul

cers,

will require a very extensive and cautious enquiry, and cannot possibly be discussed in the small compass allotted to notes. See Forster's Ob vations. But additional information has been obtained since the time ohat author.-E.