A General History & Collection of Voyages and Travels ... - Nauticus

island. Hence, that gentleman infers the existence of the practice among them, and perhaps withgreat justice, as there can be little or no doubt that it either has prevailed or now prevails in all theislands of the South Seas.--E.When I got on board, I learnt that, when the launch was on the west side of the harbour taking in ballast,one of the men employed in this work, had scalded his fingers in taking a stone up out of some water. Thiscircumstance produced the discovery of several hot springs, at the foot of the cliff, and rather below highwatermark.This day Mr Wales, and two or three of the officers advanced a little, for the first time, into the island.They met with a small straggling village, the inhabitants of which treated them with great civility; and thenext morning Mr Forster and his party made another excursion inland. They met with several fineplantations of plantains, sugar-canes, yams, &c.; and the natives were courteous and civil. Indeed, by thistime, the people, especially those in our neighbourhood, were so well reconciled to us, that they shewednot the least dislike at our rambling about in the skirts of the woods, shooting, &c. In the afternoon someboys having got behind thickets, and having thrown two or three stones at our people who were cuttingwood, they were fired at by the petty officers present on duty. Being ashore at that time, I was alarmed athearing the report of the musquets, and seeing two or three boys run out of the wood. When I knew thecause I was much displeased at so wanton an use being made of our fire- arms, and took measures toprevent it for the future. Wind southerly, with heavy showers of rain.[5][5] "We took a walk to the eastward along the shore of the bay, and looked into the groves whichskirted the flat hill before spoken of. We found these groves to consist of coco-palms, and severalspecies of shady fig-trees, with eatable fruits, nearly of the size of the common figs. We alsoobserved several sheds, under which some of their canoes were secured from the sun and weather;but there were no habitations, except towards the eastern point. We found a path, which led througha variety of bushes upon the flat hills. In our way to it, we crossed some glades, or meadows,enclosed in woods on all sides, and covered with a very rich herbage of the most vivid green. Wepassed through a little airy grove, into several extensive plantations of bananos, yams, eddoes, andfig-trees, which were in some places enclosed in fences of stone two feet high."--G.F.During the night, and also all the 11th, the volcano was exceedingly troublesome, and made a terriblenoise, throwing up prodigious columns of fire and smoke at each explosion, which happened every three orfour minutes; and, at one time, great stones were seen high in the air. Besides the necessary work ofwooding and watering, we struck the main-top-mast to fix new trestle-trees and back-stays. Mr Forster andhis party went up the hill on the west side of the harbour, where he found three places from whence smokeof a sulphureous smell issued, through cracks and fissures in the earth. The ground about these wasexceedingly hot, and parched or burnt, and they seemed to keep pace with the volcano; for, at everyexplosion of the latter, the quantity of smoke or steam in these was greatly increased, and forced out so asto rise in small columns, which we saw from the ship, and had taken for common fires made by the natives.At the foot of this hill are the hot-springs before mentioned.In the afternoon, Mr Forster having begun his botanical researches on the other side of the harbour, fell inwith our friend Paowang's house, where he saw most of the articles I had given him, hanging on theadjoining trees and bushes, as if they were not worthy of being under his roof.On the 12th, some of the officers accompanied Mr Forster to the hot places he had been at the precedingday. A thermometer placed in a little hole made in one of them, rose from 80, at which it stood in the open