sh captain could have interchanged a few words,
intelligible on both sides, and so convinced each other of their honest
intentions and wishes, the subsequent fracas might have been prevented;
but this, of course, was out of the question. It is to be feared, too,
that the superiority over all uncivilised nations which the English
voyagers proudly felt themselves to possess gave an air of contemptuous
defiance to their actions which the natives might resent. The firing of
that last shot was not unlikely (together with the previous scuffle) to
provoke feelings of deep enmity, and not only to rankle in the minds and
memories of those present, but to be handed down by tradition to the
next generation, and the next after that, so as to keep up both
detestation of all white men, and dread of their future visits.

These remarks are not uncalled for, nor will they be considered as
without point when the name of the island is given--Erromanga; a name
full of painful associations to all who take an interest in missionary
enterprise, and in the advancement, by human instrumentality, of the
kingdom of the Redeemer. It was here that, sixty-six years afterwards,
the valuable life of one of the foremost in the ranks of modern
Christian missionaries, John Williams, was sacrificed to the hatred of
the whites of which we have just spoken. The proximate incentive to the
murder was revenge for some ill-treatment the natives had shortly before
received from a white man, a sandal-wood trader; but it is probable that
the commencement of their strong dislike to strangers may be traced to
the visit of the Resolution to their native island in 1774.

After leaving Erromanga, the ship steered for another island, which
proved to be Tanna, being directed at night by a great light which was
seen at the east end of it, and which, in the morning, was discovered to
be that of a volcano in full activity. A harbour was found, and two
boats, well armed, were sent in to sound. Here the ship anchored. A
number of armed natives were seen on shore, and soon they began to come
off, some swimming, others in canoes. Some cocoanuts were thrown into
one of the boats, and cloths and other articles were given in return.
This induced more to venture alongside, when they proved themselves to
be most daring thieves; some attempted to knock off the rings from the
rudder, others tried to tear away the fly of the ensign, and a bold
effort was made to run away with t