ed with sharks' teeth, strongly fixed to it, and pointing outward; having commonly a hole in the handle, through which passes a long string, which is wrapped several times round the wrist. We also suspected that they use slings on some occasions; for we got some pieces of the hæmatites, or blood-stone, artificially made of an oval shape, divided longitudinally, with a narrow groove in the middle of the convex part. To this the person, who had one of them, applied a cord of no great thickness, but would not part with it, though he had no objection to part with the stone, which must prove fatal, when thrown with any force, as it weighed a pound. We likewise saw some oval pieces of whetstone, well polished, but somewhat pointed toward each end, nearly resembling in shape some stones which we had seen at New Caledonia in 1774, and used there in their slings. What we could learn of their religious institutions, and the manner of disposing of their dead, which may properly be considered as closely connected, has been already mentioned. And as nothing more strongly points out the affinity between the manners of these people and of the Friendly and Society Islands, I must just mention some other circumstances to place this in a strong point of view, and at the same time to shew how a few of the infinite modifications, of which a few leading principles are capable, may distinguish any particular nation. The people of Tongataboo inter their dead in a very decent manner, and they also inter their human sacrifices; but they do not offer, or expose any other animal, or even vegetable, to their gods, as far as we know. Those of Otaheite do not inter their dead, but expose them to waste by time and putrefaction, though the bones are afterward buried; and as this is the case, it is very remarkable that they should inter the entire bodies of their human sacrifices. They al so offer other animals and vegetables to their gods; but are by no means attentive to the state of the sacred places where those solemn rites are performed; most of their mo rais being in a ruinous condition, and bearing evident marks of neglect. The people of Atooi, again, inter both their common dead and human sacrifices, as at Tongataboo; but they resemble those of Otaheite in the slovenly state of their religious places, and in offering vegetables and animals to their gods. The ge The taboo also prevails in Atooi in its full extent, and seemingly with much more rigour than even at Tongataboo. For the people here always asked, with great eager ness and signs of fear to offend, whether any particular thing, which they desired to see, or we were unwilling to shew, was taboo, or, as they pronounced the word, tafoo? The maia, raä, or forbidden articles at the Society Islands, though doubtless the same thing, did not seem to be so strictly observed by them, except with respect to the dead, about whom we thought them more superstitious than any of the others were. But these are circumstances with which we are not as yet sufficiently acquainted to be decisive about; and I shall only just observe, to shew the similitude in other matters connected with religion, that the priests, or tahounas, here, are as numerous as at the other islands; if we may judge, from our being able, during our short stay, to distinguish several saying their poore or prayer. But whatever resemblance we might discover, in the neral manners of the people of Atooi to those of Otaheite, these, of course, were less striking than the coincidence of language. Indeed, the languages of both places may be said to be almost, word for word, the same. It is true, that we sometimes remarked particular words to be pronounced exactly as we had found at New Zealand and the Friendly Islands; but, though all the four dialects are indisputably the same, these people, in general, have neither the strong guttural pronunciation of the former, nor a less degree of it, which also distinguishes the latter; and they have not only adopted the soft mode of the Otaheitans, in avoiding harsh sounds, but the whole idiom of their language; using not only the same affixes and suffixes to their words, but the same measure and cadence in their songs; though, in a manner, somewhat less agreeable. There seems, indeed, at first hearing, some disagreement to the ear of a stranger; but it ought to be considered, that the people of Otaheite, from their frequent connections with the English, had learnt, in some measure, to adapt themselves to our scanty knowledge of their language, by using not only the most common, but even corrupted expressions, in conversation with us; whereas, when they conversed among themselves, and used the several parts necessary to propriety of speech, they were scarcely at all understood by those amongst us, who had made the greatest proficiency in their Vocabulary. VOL. XVI. N vocabulary. A catalogue of words was collected at Atooi by Mr Anderson, who lost no opportunity of making our voyage useful to those who amuse themselves in tracing the migrations of the various tribes or families that have peopled the globe, by the most convincing of all arguments, that drawn from affinity of language. How shall we account for this nation's having spread itself, in so many detached islands, so widely disjoined from each other, in every quarter of the Pacific Ocean! We find it, from New Zealand, in the south, as far as the Sandwich Islands to the north! And, in another direction, from Easter Island to the Hebrides! that is, over an extent of sixty degrees of latitude, or twelve hundred leagues, north and south! and eighty-three degrees of longitude, or sixteen hundred and sixty leagues east and west! How much farther, in either direction, its colonies reach is not known; but what we know already, in consequence of this and our former voyage, warrants us in pronouncing it to be, though perhaps not the most numerous, certainly, by far, the most extensive nation upon the earth. Had the Sandwich Islands been discovered at an early period by the Spaniards, there is little doubt that they would have taken advantage of so excellent a situation, and have made use of Atooi, or some other of the islands, as a refreshing place to the ships that sail annually from Acapulco for Manilla They lie almost midway between the first place and Guam, one of the Ladrones, which is at present their only port in traversing this vast ocean; and it would not have been a week's sail out of their common route to have touched at them; which could have been done without running the least hazard of losing the passage, as they are sufficiently within the verge of the easterly trade-wind. An acquaintance with the Sandwich Islands would have been equally favourable to our Buccaneers, who used sometimes to pass from the coast of America to the Ladrones, with a stock of food and water scarcely sufficient to preserve life. Here they might always have found plenty, and have been within a month's sure sail of the very part of California, which the Manilla ship is obliged to make, or else have returned to the coast of America, thoroughly * See more about the great extent of the colonies of this nation in the Introductory Preface. thoroughly refitted, after an absence of two months. How happy would Lord Anson have been, and what hardships would he have avoided, if he had known that there was a group of islands half way between America and Tinian, where all his wants could have been effectually supplied; and in describing which, the elegant historian of that voyage would have presented his reader with a more agreeable picture than I have been able to draw in this chapter! s SECTION XIII. Observations made at the Sandwich Islands, on the Longitude, Variation of the Compass and Tides.-Prosecution of the Voyage.-Remarks on the Mildness of the Weather, as far as the Latitude 44° North.-Paucity of Sea Birds, in the Northern Hemisphere.-Small Sea Animals described.-Ar rival on the Coast of America.-Appearance of the Country.-Unfavourable Winds and boisterous Weather-Remarks on Martin de Aguilar's River, and Juan de Fuca's pretended Strait.-An Inlet discovered, where the Ships anchor.-Behaviour of the Natives. AFTER the Discovery had joined us, we stood away to the northward, close hauled, with a gentle gale from the east; and nothing occurring, in this situation, worthy of a place in my narrative, the reader will permit me to insert here the nautical observations which I had opportunities of making relative to the islands we had left; and which we had been fortunate enough to add to the geography of this part of the Pacific Ocean. The longitude of the Sandwich Islands was determined by seventy-two sets of lunar observations; some of which were made while we were at anchor in the road of Wymoa; others before we arrived, and after we left it, and reduced 4 We defer considering the curious subject of the identity and origin of the people that inhabit the South Sea, till other relations shall have put the reader in possession of the facts requisite for the discussion. Of the Sandwich Islands, we shall hereafter probably have more complete information than is now given.-E. reduced to it by the watch or time-keeper. By the mean result of these observations, the longitude of the road is Time-keeper Ulietea rate, { The latitude of the road, by the mean of two meridian observations of the sun 200° 13′ 0′′ East. 21° 56′ 15′′ North. The observations for the variation of the compass did not agree very well among themselves. It is true, they were not all made exactly in the same spot. The different situations, however, could make very little difference. But the whole will be seen, by casting an eye on the following table. East Time. Latitude. Longitude. Compass. Variation. Jan.18th.A.M. 21°12′ 200°41' 19th.P.M. 21°51'200°20′ Gregory's 10° 10' 10" Knight's 10 2'10" 28th.A.M. 21°22′ 199° 56' Knight's 9° 1'25" Mean Variation. 90° 51′38′′ 10° 37' 10" 9° 26' 57" 28th.P.M. 21°36′ 199" 50′ Knight's 10° 40′ 0′′ 11° 12′ 50′′ Means of the above } 21°29' 200°12′ Martin's 10°18′ 5′′) Martin's 11° 37′ 50′′) 10° 17'11" On January 18. 21°12′ 200°41′ the north end of the needle dipped 42° 1' 7". The tides at the Sandwich Islands are so inconsiderable, that, with the great surf which broke against the shore, it was hardly possible to tell, at any time, whether we had high or low water, or whether it ebbed or flowed. On the south side of Atooi, we generally found a current setting to the westward, or north-westward. But when we were at anchor off Oneeheow, the current set nearly north-west and south-east, six hours one way and six the other, and so strong as to make the ships tend, though the wind blew fresh |