nce, so as not to have to
destroy more of the ignorant savages. There was no time to lose, as the
men in the boat made signs that more natives were collecting. They had
succeeded in getting safely on board, when they saw nearly a hundred
savages, who shouted and threw fire-darts, several at a time, towards
them. On board ship it was supposed, from the effect produced, that the
natives had fire-arms, and even from the boat, had they not been so
near, the English would have fancied, from the flash and smoke, that the
blacks were firing musketry; the sound only was wanting. Some muskets
being fired over their heads, they walked leisurely away.

In appearance these natives were very similar to those of New Holland,
though their skin was not quite so dark. They were all stark naked.
The land was low, and covered with a luxuriance of wood and herbage that
can scarcely be conceived. Some of the officers wished to send on shore
to cut down the cocoanut trees for the sake of the fruit, but the
commander refused to comply with their proposal, feeling that it would
be cruel and criminal to risk the lives of the natives, who would
certainly try to defend their property, merely for the sake of a
transient gratification. The boat was therefore hoisted in, and sail
made to the westward.

The more interesting portion of Captain Cook's first voyage round the
world was now accomplished. He had successfully made the important
observation for which he was sent out; he had become intimately
acquainted with the inhabitants of Otaheite and several of the adjacent
islands, though, from the cunning of the people, he had failed to
discover that it was among the darkest of "the dark places of the
earth." He had shown that if there was a great southern continent it
must be in a very high latitude; he had proved that New Zealand
consisted of two great islands, and had cause to suspect the existence
of a third smaller one. He had sailed along the coast of New Holland,
and had made the acquaintance of its inhabitants and many of its animal
and vegetable productions. Though he had seen the coast of Tasmania,
and admired its beauty, he had not discovered that it was separated from
New Holland; but he had settled the point before in dispute--whether
that little-known land was or was not joined to New Guinea--by sailing
between them; and he had shown that the eastern coast of the
island-continent of Australia was fit to become the habitation