y would be sufficiently informed by the manner of our working
the ship. We therefore mustered all our hands who were capable of
standing to their arms and loaded our upper and quarter-deck guns with
grapeshot, and that we might the more readily procure some intelligence
of the state of these islands, we showed Spanish colours and hoisted a
red flag at the foretop masthead, to give our ship the appearance of the
Manila galleon, hoping thereby to decoy some of the inhabitants on board
us. Thus preparing ourselves, and standing towards the land, we were near
enough at three in the afternoon to send the cutter in shore to find out
a proper berth for the ship, and we soon perceived that a proa came off
the shore to meet the cutter, fully persuaded, as we afterwards found,
that we were the Manila ship. As we saw the cutter returning back with
the proa in tow, we immediately sent the pinnace to receive the proa and
the prisoners, and to bring them on board that the cutter might proceed
on her errand. The pinnace came back with a Spaniard and four Indians,
who were the people taken in the proa. The Spaniard was immediately
examined as to the produce and circumstances of this island of Tinian,
and his account of it surpassed even our most sanguine hopes, for he
informed us that it was uninhabited, which, in our present defenceless
condition, was an advantage not to be despised, especially as it wanted
but few of the conveniences that could be expected in the most cultivated
country; for he assured us that there was great plenty of very good
water, and that there were an incredible number of cattle, hogs, and
poultry, running wild on the island, all of them excellent in their kind;
that the woods produced sweet and sour oranges, limes, lemons, and
cocoa-nuts in great plenty, besides a fruit peculiar to these islands
(called by Dampier breadfruit); that, from the quantity and goodness of
the provisions produced here, the Spaniards at Guam made use of it as a
store for supplying the garrison; that he himself was a sergeant of that
garrison, and was sent here with twenty-two Indians to jerk beef, which
he was to load for Guam on board a small bark of about fifteen tons which
lay at anchor near the shore.

PLEASING SCENES.

This account was received by us with inexpressible joy. Part of it we
were ourselves able to verify on the spot, as we were by this time near
enough to discover several numerous herds of cattle feeding in differen