d, and
were met by several canoes filled with people, some of whom took
courage and ventured on board.

In the course of my several voyages I never before met with the
natives of any place so much astonished, as these people were upon
entering a ship. Their eyes were continually flying from object to
object; the wildness of their looks and gestures fully expressing
their entire ignorance about every thing they saw, and strongly
marking to us, that, till now, they had never been visited by
Europeans, nor been acquainted with any of our commodities, except
iron; which, however, it was plain, they had only heard of, or had
known it in some small quantity, brought to them at some distant
period. They seemed only to understand that it was a substance much
better adapted to the purposes of cutting or of boring of holes, than
any thing their own country produced. They asked for it by the name
of _hamaite_, probably referring to some instrument, in the making of
which iron could be usefully employed; for they applied that name to
the blade of a knife, though we could be certain that they had no
idea of that particular instrument, nor could they at all handle it
properly. For the same reason they frequently called iron by the name
of _toe_, which, in their language, signifies a hatchet, or rather a
kind of adze. On asking them what iron was, they immediately answered,
"We do not know; you know what it is, and we only understand it as
_toe_, or _hamaite_." When we shewed them some beads, they asked
first, "What they were;" and then "whether they should eat them."
But on their being told that they were to be hung in their ears,
they returned them as useless. They were equally indifferent as to a
looking-glass, which was offered them, and returned it for the same
reason; but sufficiently expressed their desire for _hamaite_ and
_toe_, which they wished might be very large. Plates of earthen-ware,
china-cups, and other such things, were so new to them, that they
asked if they were made of wood, but wished to have some, that
they might carry them to be looked at on shore. They were, in some
respects, naturally well-bred; or, at least, fearful of giving
offence, asking whether they should sit down, whether they should
spit upon the deck, and the like. Some of them repeated a long prayer
before they came on board; and others afterward sung and made motions
with their hands, such as we had been accustomed to see in the dances
of the i