He Seemed
Quite Ignorant And Innocent, Till I Took It From Him; And Then He Put It
Off With A
Laugh, acting his part with so much address, that it was hardly
possible for me to be angry with him;
So that we remained good friends, and
he accompanied me on board to dinner. About that time, we were visited by
several strangers, in four or five canoes, who brought with them fish, and
other articles, which they exchanged for cloth, &c. These newcomers took up
their quarters in a cove near us; but very early the next morning moved off
with six of our small water casks; and with them all the people we found
here on our arrival. This precipitate retreat of these last, we supposed
was owing to the theft the others had committed. They left behind them some
of their dogs, and the boar I had given them the day before, which I now
took back again as I had not another. Our casks were the least loss we felt
by these people leaving us: While they remained, we were generally well
supplied with fish at a small expence.
We had fair weather, with the wind at N.E., on the 9th, which gave us some
hopes of seeing the Adventure; but these hopes vanished in the afternoon,
when the wind shifted to the westward.[3]
The next morning, our friends the natives returned again, and brought with
them a quantity of fish, which they exchanged for two hatchets.
Fair weather on the 12th, enabled us to finish picking, airing, and baking
our biscuit; four thousand two hundred and ninety-two pounds of which we
found totally unfit to eat; and about three thousand pounds more could only
be eaten by people in our situation.[4]
On the 13th, clear and pleasant weather. Early in the morning the natives
brought us a quantity of fish, which they exchanged as usual. But their
greatest branch of trade was the green talc or stone, called by them
Poenammoo, a thing of no great value; nevertheless it was so much sought
after by our people, that there was hardly a thing they would not give for
a piece of it.[5]
The 15th being a pleasant morning, a party of us went over to the East Bay,
and climbed one of the hills which overlooked the eastern part of the
Strait, in order to look for the Adventure. We had a fatiguing walk to
little purpose; for when we came to the summit, we found the eastern
horizon so foggy, that we could not see above two miles. Mr Forster, who
was one of the party, profited by this excursion, in collecting some new
plants. I now began to despair of seeing the Adventure any more; but was
totally at a loss to conceive what was become of her. Till now, I thought
she had put into some port in the Strait, when the wind came to N.W., the
day we anchored in the Cove, and waited to complete her water. This
conjecture was reasonable enough at first, but it was now hardly probable
she could be twelve days in our neighbourhood, without our either hearing
or seeing something of her.
The hill we now mounted is the same that I was upon in 1770, when I had the
second view of the Strait: We then built a tower, with the stones we found
there, which we now saw had been levelled to the ground; no doubt by the
natives, with a view of finding something hid in it. When we returned from
the hill, we found a number of them collected round our boat. After some
exchanges, and making them some presents, we embarked, in order to return
on board; and, in our way, visited others of the inhabitants, by whom we
were kindly received.
Our friends, the natives, employed themselves on the 17th in fishing in our
neighbourhood; and, as fast as they caught the fish, came and disposed of
them to us; insomuch that we had more than we could make use of. From this
day to the 22d nothing remarkable happened, and we were occupied in getting
every thing in readiness to put to sea, being resolved to wait no longer
than the assigned time for the Adventure.
The winds were between the south and west, stormy with rain till the 23d,
when the weather became settled, clear, and pleasant. Very early in the
morning, we were visited by a number of the natives, in four or five
canoes, very few of whom we had seen before. They brought with them various
articles (curiosities), which they exchanged for Otaheitean cloth, &c. At
first, the exchanges were very much in our favour, till an old man, who was
no stranger to us, came and assisted his countrymen with his advice; which,
in a moment, turned the trade above a thousand per cent, against us.[6]
After these people were gone, I took four hogs (that is, three sows and one
boar), two cocks and two hens, which I landed in the bottom of the West
Bay; carrying them a little way into the woods, where we left them with as
much food as would serve them ten or twelve days. This was done with a view
of keeping them in the woods, lest they should come down to the shore in
search of food, and be discovered by the natives; which, however, seemed
not probable, as this place had never been frequented by them; nor were any
traces of them to be seen near it. We also left some cocks and hens in the
woods in Ship Cove; but these will have a chance of falling into the hands
of the natives, whose wandering way of life will hinder them from breeding,
even suppose they should be taken proper care of. Indeed, they took rather
too much care of those which I had already given them, by keeping them
continually confined, for fear of losing them in the woods.
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