and reconnoitre the coast, while we stood to and fro with the ship. This
gave time to three sailing canoes which had been following us some time, to
come up. There were five or six men in each; and they approached near
enough to receive such things as were thrown to them fastened to a rope,
but would not advance alongside. They were the same sort of people as those
we had seen the preceding evening; indeed we thought they came from the
same place. They seemed to be stouter and better shaped men than those of
Mallicollo; and several circumstances concurred to make us think they were
of another nation. They named the numerals as far as five or six in the
language of Anamocka, and understood us when we asked the names of the
adjacent lands in that language. Some, indeed, had black short frizzled
hair like the natives of Mallicollo, but others had it long, tied up on the
crown of the head, and ornamented with feathers like the New Zealanders.
Their other ornaments were bracelets and necklaces; one man had something
like a white shell on his forehead, and some were painted with a blackish
pigment. I did not see that they had any other weapon but darts and gigs,
intended only for striking of fish. Their canoes were much like those of
Tanna, and navigated in the same manner, or nearly so. They readily gave us
the names of such parts as we pointed to; but we could not obtain from them
the name of the island. At length, seeing our boats coming, they paddled in
for the shore, notwithstanding all we could say or do to detain them.

When the boats returned, Mr Cooper informed me, that they had landed on the
beach which is at the head of the bay, near a fine river, or stream of
fresh water, so large and deep that they judged boats might enter it at
high water. They found three fathoms depth close to the beach, and fifty-five
and fifty, two cables' length off. Farther out they did not sound; and
where we were with the ship, we had no soundings with a hundred and seventy
fathoms line. Before the boats got on board, the wind had shifted to the
S.S.E. As we were in want of nothing, and had no time to spare, I took the