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SECT. XXII. A Description of Poverty Bay, and the Face of the adjacent Country. The Range from thence to Cape Turnagain, and back to Tolaga, with some Account of the People and the Country, and several Incidents that happened on that Part of the Coast, XXIII. The Range from Tolaga to Mercury Bay, with an Account of many Incidents that happened both on board and ashore: A Description of several Views exhibited by the Country, and of the Hippahs, or fortified Villages of the Inhabitants,

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XXIV. The Range from Mercury Bay to the
Bay of Islands: An Expedition up
the River Thames: Some Account
of the Indians who inhabit its Banks,
and the fine Timber that grows there:
Several Interviews with the Natives
on different Parts of the Coast, and a
Skirmish with them upon an Island, 156

XXV. Range from the Bay of Islands round
North Cape to Queen Charlotte's
Island; and a Description of that
Part of the Coast,

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XXVI. Transactions in Queen Charlotte's
Sound; Passage through the Streight
which divides the two Islands, and
back to Cape Turnagain: Horrid
Custom of the Inhabitants: Remark-
able Melody of Birds: A Visit to
a Hippah, and many other Particu-
lars,

XXVII. Range from Cape Turnagain along the
eastern Coast of Poenammoo, round
Cape South, and back to the En-
trance of Cook's Streight, which
completed the Circumnavigation of
the Country; with a Description of
the Coast, and of Admiralty Bay:
The Departure from New Zealand,
and various Particulars,

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*XXVIII. The Run from New Zealand to Botany Bay, on the East Coast of New Holland, now called New South Wales; various Incidents that happened there; with some Account of the Country

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and its Inhabitants,

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SECT. XXIX. The Range from Botany Bay; with a farther Account of the Country, and

its Inhabitants and Productions, 242

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XXX. Dangerous Situation of the Ship in her
Course from Trinity Bay to Endea-
vour River,

XXXI. Transactions while the Ship was refit-
ting in Endeavour River: A De-
scription of the adjacent Country, its
Inhabitants and Productions,
XXXII. Departure from Endeavour River; a
particular Description of the Harbour
there, in which the Ship was refitted,
the adjacent Country, and several
Islands near the Coast; the Range
from Endeavour River to the North-
ern Extremity of the Country, and
the Dangers of that Navigation,

XXXIII. Departure from New South Wales; a
particular Description of the Coun-
try, its Products, and People: A Spe-
cimen of the Language, and some
Observations on the Currents and
Tides,

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286

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337

XXXIV. The Passage from New South Wales to
New Guinea, with an Account of
what happened upon landing there, 362

XXXV. The Passage from New Guinea to the
Island of Semau, and the Transac-
tions there,

XXXVI, A particular Description of the Island
of Savu, its Produce, and Inhabit-
ants, with a Specimen of their Lan-

guage,

XXXVII. The Run from the Island of Savu to Ba-
tavia, and an Account of the Trans-
actions there while the Ship was re-
fitting,

XXVIII. Some Account of Batavia, and the ad-
jacent Country; with the Fruits,
Flowers, and other Productions,

XXXIX. Some Account of the Inhabitants of
Batavia, and the adjacent Country,
their Manners, Customs, and Manner
of Life,

XL. The Passage from Batavia to the Cape
of Good Hope. Some Account of

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Ship to England,

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APPENDIX. An Abstract of the Voyage round the World, performed by Lewis de Bougainville, Colonel of Foot, and Commander of the Expedition, in the Frigate La Boudeuse, and the Storeship L'Etoile, in the Years 1766-7-8, and 9, drawn up expressly for this Work,

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AND

COLLECTION

OF

VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.

PART III.-BOOK I.

CHAP. IV.

SECTION XVII.

A particular Description of the Island of Otaheite; its Produce and Inhabitants; their Dress, Habitations, Food, Domestic Life and Amusements.

WE

E found the longitude of Port Royal bay, in this island, as settled by Captain Wallis, who discovered it on the 9th of June, 1767, to be within half a degree of the truth. We found Point Venus, the northern extremity of the island, and the eastern point of the bay, to lie in the longitude of 149° 13', this being the mean result of a great number of observations made upon the spot. The island is surrounded by a reef of coral rock, which forms several excellent bays and harbours, some of which have been particularly described, where there is room and depth of water for any number of the largest ships. Port Royal bay, called by the natives Matavai, which is not inferior to any in Otaheite, may easily be known by a very high mountain in the middle of the island, which bears due south from Point Venus. To sail into it, either keep the west point of the reef that lies before Point Venus, close on board, or give it a birth of near half a mile, in order to avoid a small shoal of coral rocks,

VOL. XIII. PART I,

A

rocks, on which there is but two fathoms and a half of water. The best anchoring is on the eastern side of the bay, where there is sixteen and fourteen fathom upon an oosy bottom. The shore of the bay is a fine sandy beach, behind which runs a river of fresh water, so that any number of ships may water here without incommoding each other; but the only wood for firing, upon the whole island, is that of fruit-trees, which must be purchased of the natives, or all hope of living upon good terms with them given up.

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The face of the country, except that part of it which borders upon the sea, is very uneven; it rises in ridges that run up into the middle of the island, and there form tains, which may be seen at the distance of sixty miles: Between the foot of these ridges and the sea, is a border of low land, surrounding the whole island, except in a few places where the ridges rise directly from the sea: The border of low land is in different parts of different breadths, but no where more than a mile and a half. The soil, except upon the very tops of the ridges, is extremely rich and fertile, watered by a great number of rivulets of excellent water, and covered with fruit-trees of various kinds, some of which are of a stately growth and thick foliage, so as to form one continued wood; and even the tops of the ridges, though in general they are bare, and burnt up by the sun, are, in some parts, not without their produce.

The low land that lies between the foot of the ridges and the sea, and some of the vallies, are the only parts of the island that are inhabited, and here it is populous; the houses do not form villages or towns, but are ranged along the whole border at the distance of about fifty yards from each other, with little plantations of plantains, the tree which furnishes them with cloth. The whole island, according to Tupia's account, who certainly knew, could furnish six thousand seven hundred and eighty fighting men, from which the number of inhabitants may easily be computed.

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It is questionable if the whole existing population of the island amount to the number now mentioned. Such has been the decrease of its interesting but licentious inhabitants since the time of Cook, to which, it is melancholy to be obliged to say, their intercourse with Europeans has most rapidly contributed. The reader is referred, for some information on

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