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the north-west, and that we were already too near the fhore. As a calm prevented us from fteering the fhip, we were obliged to put out a boat to tow her off. The favages thinking, no doubt, that we intended to pursue them, in order to punish them for their dishonesty, retreated precipitately towards the illand. Out of gratitude, perhaps, for the patience with which we allowed them to cheat us, they committed no fuch act of treachery as General Bougainville, in his voyage round the world, had experienced at their hands.

"Four canoes were, all this while, dealing with the Esperance. One of them was manned by natives, of whom fixteen were paddlers, and the reit warriors.

"We learned from the people on board the Esperance, that this war-canoe had long kept at a distance; but ventured to come alongside, on feeing the different articles which their countrymen in the little canoes had procured.

"The order with which the favages were stationed in the great canoe, indicated a kind of naval tactics. A warrior, armed with a bow and arrows, food between every two paddles on each fide, and intermediate parties of two or three warriors flood with their faces towards the ftern of the canoe, in order to obferve the movements in that direction, and to fight while retreating. Thofe warriors fhowed no hoftile difpofition; they feemed very fond of the wine and brandy which was given to them, but did not eat bacon without a degree of repug

nance.

"Thofe favages had excellent teeth, and found no difficulty in mafticating the hardest bifcuits that were offered to them.

"Could thofe natives have had any communication with the Englith and the Spaniards? One of them, on fhowing us an arrow, which he was going to tie to the end of one of our ftrings to convey it on board, pronounced very diftinétly the English word arrow. Another, fhowing us the land, and inviting us to it, made use of the Spanish word tierra.

"We learned from the Efperance, that feveral of them pronounced the word Bouka, the name which General Bougainville gave to their iland. This word, which in the Malayan language is the expreffion of negation, and which, when the firft fyllable is pronounced long, fignifies to open, doubtlefs feems to indicate fome analogy with the Malayan; from which, however, it differs fo much, that one of the fhip's company, who spoke the language fluently, could not understand those natives.

"The value which they feemed to affix to nails, and the other articles of hardware which we gave them, fhowed that they were acquainted with the use of iron.

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"The colour of their skins is blackish. They are of a middling ftature; and being naked, their distinctly marked mufcles indicated great ftrength. Their figure, though not very agreeable, is extremely expreffive. Their heads are very big; their foreheads broad, like the reft of their faces, which are very flat, efpecially under the nofe; their chins large and prominent; their cheeks full, their nofes flat, their mouths very large, and their lips very thin,

The

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"The betel, which gives a bloody tint to their large mouths, adds to the uglinefs of their appearance.

"Their ears are leaded with large rings made of fhells, the weight of which contributed to the large fize of thole organs. Some had red and white streaks traced upon their bodies; and we obferved one whofe hair and nofe were fprinkled with a red carth, which appeared to be ochre. Some had bracelets formed of the fibres of the cocoa-nut hufk. "Their hair was curled, thick and bulky, like that of many Pawhom we afterwards met with. pows,

They are in the practice of plucking the hair from every part of the body. There was but one feen, on board the Efperance, who allowed his beard to grow.

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All of them had their loins girded with a cord, which went feveral times about the body, and feemed only defigned as a point of fupport, to increase the mufcular ftrength of thofe parts. One of them, probably with a fimilar view, had his left arm tied in three different places, over the biceps mufcle; fose flat bits of wood, on the outfide of the arm, fupported the ftrain of the cord.

"Thofe favages appeared to handle the bow with much addrefs. One of them brought on board the Efperance a booby, which he had brought down with an arrow; and the fatal wound was feen in the belly of the bird.

"The indufry of thofe iflanders feemed to be particularly directed to the fabrication of their arms, which were formed with great care. We admired the fkill with which they had coated their bow-ftrings with a refinous fubftance, which gave them, at first fight, the appear ance of cat-gut. The middle of the ftring was done round with bark, in order to fave it from wear, by giving the impulfe to the arrow. The inferior part of the arrows was very light, being formed of the falk of the faccharum fpontaneum; and the other part confifted of very hard wood, well pointed. The joining is ingeniously faftened with about thirty turns of bark, as is alfo the part of the arrow which bears upon the firing, to give it the greater folidity.

Their canoes, formed of feveral planks, ingenioufly joined together, are of a shape at once elegant, and adapted for a quick motion."

P. 154.

From the numerous group of islands, comprehending Bougainville's Ifland, the Admiralty Ilands, &c. &c. the voyagers proceeded to New Guinea, and finally anchored at Amboyna. The whole of the eighth Chapter, which we think the most entertaining part of the work, is occupied with defcribing excurfions into the interior of the island; an account of the Sago Palm, which is curious and interefting; the natives of Amboyna, their drefs, manners, with a variety of important obfervations. This is, on the whole, the best account of Amboyna we remember ever to have seen, not excepting that of Stavorinus, of which, on a recent occafion, we fpoke with praife. Leaving Amboyna, the navigators explored the fouth-weft coaft of New Holland; and

ranging

ranging along its flores.came a fecond time to Cape Van D.cmen. The naturalists difcovered, at Legrand's Bay, a new fpecies of fwan, and a marine falt, upwards of two hundred meters in perpendicular height. The tenth Chapter excites confiderable intereft. It gives an agreeable account of the interior parts of the country, of various trees peculiar to New Holland, of the natives and their manners. Thefe latter are fo curious as to justify another extract.

"About noon we faw them prepare their repaft. Hitherto we had but a faint idea of the pains the women take to procure the food requifite for the fubfiftence of their families. They took each a basket, and were followed by their daughters, who did the fame. Getting on the rocks, that projected into the fea, they plunged from them to the bottom in fearch of fhell-fish. When they had been down fome time, we became very uneafy on their account; for where they had dived were fea-weeds of great length, among which we obferved the fucus pyriforus, and we feared that they might have been entangled in thefe, fo as to be unable to regain the furface. At length however they ap peared, and convinced us that they were capable of remaining under water twice as long as our ableft divers. An inftant was fufficient for them to take breath, and then they dived again. This they did repeatedly, till their baskets were nearly full. Moft of them were provided with a little bit of wood, cut into the fhape of a fpatula, of which I fpoke above; and with thefe they fparated, from beneath the rocks, at great depths, very large fea-ears. Perhaps they choose the biggeft, for all they brought were of a great fize.

On feeing the large lobsters, which they had in their baskets, we were afraid that they must have wounded thofe poor women terribly with their large claws; but we foon found, that they had taken the precaution to kill them as foon as they caught them. They quitted the water only to bring their husbands the fruits of their labour; and frequently returned almost immediately to their diving, till they had procured a fufficient meal for their families. At other times they staid a little while to warm themfelves, with their faces towards the fire on which their fifh was roafting, and other little fires burning behind them, that they might be warmed on all fides at once.

"It feemed as if they were unwilling to lofe a moment's time, for while they were warming themfelves, they were employed in roafting fish; fome of which they laid on the coals with the utmost caution: though they took little care of the lobiters, which they threw any where into the fire, and when they were ready, they divided the claws among the men and children, referving the body for themfelves, which they fometimes ate before they returned into the water.

"It gave us great pain to fee these poor women condemned to fuch fevere tor: while, at the fame time, they ran the hazard of being devoured by fharks, or entangled among the weeds that rife from the bottom of the fea. We often intreated their husbands to take a share in their labour at least, but always in vain. They remained conftantly near the fire, feasting on the best bits, and eating broiled fucus, or

fern

fern-roots. Occafionally they took the trouble to break boughs of trees into short pieces, to feed the fire, taking care to choose the drieft. From their manner of breaking them, we found that their skulls muft be very hard; for, taking hold of the fticks at each end with the hand, they bent them over their heads, as we do at the knee, till they broke. Their heads being conftantly bare, and often expofed to all weathers, in this high latitude, acquire a capacity of refifting fuch efforts befides, their hair forms a cushion, which diminishes the pref fure, and renders it much lefs painful on the fummit of the head, than on any other part of the body. Few of the women, however, could have done as much; for fome had their hair cut pretty fhort, and wore a ftring feveral times round the head, others had only a fimple crown of hair. We made the fame obfervation with respect to feveral of the children, but none of the men. Thefe had the back, breaft, fhoulders, and arms, covered with downy hair.

Two of the ftouteft of the party were fitting in the midst of their children, and each had two women by his fide. They informed us by figns, that these were their wives, and gave us a fresh proof that polygamy is eftablished among them. The other women, who had only one husband, were equally careful to let us know it. It would be difficult to fay which are the happieft; as the most laborious of their da meftic occupations devolve upon them, the former had the advantage of a partner in them, which perhaps might fufficiently compenfate their having only a fhare in their husband's affections.

"Their meal had continued a long time, and we were much furprized that not one of them had yet drank; but this they deferred, till they were fully fatisfied with eating. The women and girls then went to fetch water with the veffels of fea-weed, of which I have already fpoken, getting it at the first place they came to, and fetting it down by the men, who drank it without ceremony, though it was very muddy and ftagnant. Then they finished their repast.

"When we returned towards Port Dentrecafteux, most of the favages accompanied us; and before they left us, they gave us to underftand, that, in two days, br proceeding along the fhore, they should be very near our hips. To inform us that they fhould make this journey in two days, they pointed out with their hands the diurnal motion of the fun, and expreffed the number two by as many of their fingers.

"When we re-embarked to go on board, thefe good people followed us with their eyes for fome time, before they left the shore, and then they difappeared in the woods. Their way brought them at times to the fhore again, of which we were immediately informed by the cries of joy, with which they made the air refound. These teftimonies of pleafure did not ceafe, till we loft fight of them from the distance.

"During the whole time we spent with them, nothing appeared to indicate that they had any chiefs. Each family, on the contrary, feemed to us to live in perfect independence; though we obferved in the children the greatest fubordination to their parents, and in the women the fame to their husbands. It appeared, that the women were careful to avoid giving their husbands any occafion for jealoufy: though, when we returned on board, one of the crew boafted of the favours he had received from one of the beauties of Cape Diemen;

3

but

but it is difficult to fay how far his story was founded on truth.” P. 312.

A fecond time the voyagers paffed through D'Entrecafteaux's Strait, anchored in Adventure Bay, proceeded to the northward of New Zealand, and came to Tongataboo, one of the Friendly Ilands. The manners of the people there are well defcribed; but these are now familiar to every reader. Leaving Tongataboo, they discovered a new island on their way to New Caledonia, to which they gave the name of Ifle de Beaupre. They defcribe the natives of New Caledonia as remarkably bold and daring, and as cannibals. One of their articles of food is a new fpecies of spider.

Leaving New Caledonia, they proceeded in a northerly direction till they came, to Santa Cruz, or Egmont Ifland, which place, with its inhabitants, is defcribed. Having explored a part of Solomon's Archipelago, the north coast of La Louisiade they paffed through Dampier's Strait, to examine the north coast of New Britain. Here they loft their Admiral. Hence again proceeding to Waygiou, an ifland near Pitt's Strait, they finally came to Batavia. At this place they were detained on account of the war; and, melancholy to tell, loft the greater part of their crews. The furvivors were varioufly difperfed, and it is greatly to be feared, that but a very few ever have found their way back again to their native country.

Thus ended this difaftrous enterprise; honourable indeed to both countries, but particularly to this; by whofe generosity the papers and collections of the Voyage were communicated to France. It will trike every obferver, as no creditable feature in the prefent national character of our adversaries, that the naturalifts and men of science who accompanied the expedition, were, on all occafions, treated with the most marked negligence and contempt. They were denied the comforts, and often the neceffaries which the rest of the crew had in common. With respect to the tranflations before us, both are undoubtedly entitled to praife. That published for Stockdale appears, on the whole, to be the best; while, on the other hand, the chart and plates which accompany Debrett's publication, are fuperior to thofe in the other work. We think, however, that the Voyage itfelf does not much increase our ftores of knowledge; nor, except in that part which defcribes the manners of Amboyna, does it afford any great degree of entertainment.

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