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in fome it was of a frizzling difpofition, yet, for the moft part, that, as well as theftraight fort, was long. Their features were various, and fome of the young menrather handfome. Like thofe of Mangeea, they had girdles of glazed cloth, or finematting, the ends of which, being brought betwixt their thighs, cover the adjoiningparts. Ornaments , compofed of a fort of broad brafs, ftained with red, and ftrung withberries of the night-fhade, were worn about their necks. Their ears were bored, butnot flit; and they were pundtured upon their legs, from the knee to the heel, whichmade them appear as if they wore a kind of boots. They alfo refembled the inha-bitants of Mangeea in the length of their beards, and, like them, wore a fort of fandalsupon their feet. Their behaviour was frank and cheerful, with a great deal of good-nature.
Soon after day-break, we obferved fome canoes coming off to the fliips, and one ofthem directed its courfe to the Refolution. In it was a hog, with fome plantains andcocoa-nuts, for which the people who brought them demanded a dog from us, andrefufed every other thing that we offered in exchange. To gratify thefe people, Omaiparted with a favourite dog he had brought from England ; and with this acquifitionthey departed highly fatisfied.
I difpatched Mr. Gore with three boats, two from the Refolution, and one from theDifcovery. Two of the natives, who had been on board, accompanied him, and Omaiwent with him in his boat as an interpreter. The fhips' being a full league from theifland when the boats put off, it was noon before we could work up to it. We thenfaw our three boats riding at their graplings, juft without the furf, and a prodigiousnumber of the natives on the fhore, abreaft of them. By this we concluded, thatMr. Gore, and others of our people, had landed, and our impatience to know theevent may be eafily conceived. In order to obferve their motions, and to be ready togive them fuch affiftance as they might want, and our refpective fituations wouldadmit of, I kept as near the fhore as was prudent. Some of the iflanders, now andthen, came off to the fhips in their canoes, with a few cocoa-nuts, which they exchangedfor whatever was offered to them.
Thefe occafional vifits ferved to leffen my folicitude about our people who hadlanded. Though we could get no information from our vifitors; yet their venturingon board feemed to imply, at leaft, that their countrymen on fhore had not made animproper ufe of the confidence put in them. At length, a little before fun-fet, we hadthe fatisfadlion of feeing the boats put off - . When they got on board, I found thatMr. Gore himfelf, Omai, Mr. Anderfon, and Mr. Burney, were the only perfonswho had landed. The tranfaClions of the day were now fully reported to me byMr. Anderfon: I fhall give them nearly in his words.
“ We rowed toward a fmall fandy beach, upon which a great number of the nativeshad afiembled. Several of the natives fwam off, bringing cocoa-nuts; *and Omai, withtheir countrymen, whom we had with us in the boats, made them fenfible of our wifhto land.
“ Mr. Burney, the firft lieutenant of the Difcovery, and I, went in one canoe, a littletime before the other; and our conductors, watching attentively the motions of thefurf, landed us fafely upon the reef. An iflander took hold of each of us, obviouflywith an intention to fupport us in walking over the rugged rocks to the beach, wherefeveral of the others met us, holding the green boughs of a fpecies of mimofa in theirhands, and faluted us by applying their nofes to ours.
“ We were conducted from the beach amidft a crowd of people, who flocked withvery eager curiofity to look at us, and would have prevented our proceeding, had not
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