ng, there is no running stream of fresh water upon the whole island,
but only small springs, which are at a considerable distance from the sea
side:"* this conflicting account was discouraging; but as we had lately
had much rain it was hoped that there would be a sufficiency in the
springs for our use.

(*Footnote. Hawkesworth Coll. volume 3 page 277.)

October 24.

Having fully weighed all these circumstances we bore up for Savu, and at
four p.m. on the 24th anchored in Zeba Bay, on the north-west side of the
island. The bank on which the anchor was dropped was so steep that,
although the anchor was in twelve fathoms, the vessel was, at the length
of forty fathoms of cable, in twenty-two fathoms. As we were bringing up,
two muskets were fired from the shore, and a white flag, or rather a rag,
was suspended to a pole, around which a group of people had collected.
This flag gave us no very favourable idea of the respectability of the
place, and the meaning of the muskets we could not divine, nor indeed
ever did discover, unless it was that we had anchored on bad ground: the
boat was then hoisted out and I went on shore, accompanied by Messrs.
Bedwell and Cunningham, to where the flag was displayed. On approaching
the shore three people came down to direct us to the proper landing
place; for in all other parts of the beach a heavy surf was breaking. We
were then conducted to a hut in the rear of the flagstaff, where we found
from fifteen to twenty persons assembled; two of whom appeared, by their
dress and from the respect paid to them by the rest, to be chiefs. To
these I addressed myself and inquired for the Dutch resident, but soon
found there was none, and that one of those to whom we were speaking was
the Rajah himself. I afterwards found he was the identical Amadima of
whom interesting mention is made by Peron in his historical account of
Captain Baudin's expedition.*

(*Footnote. Peron tome 1 pages 119, 151, 161, and 162.)

My inquiries were made partly by signs and partly by a few terms in the
Malay language that we had collected from Captain Cook,* and from
Labillardiere's account of D'Entrecasteaux's voyage. Aer (water) was
among the foremost of our inquiries, to which we added the terms for
pigs, sheep, fowls, and coconuts, (vavee, doomba, mannu, and nieu).
Everything but water was plentiful and could be supplied by paying for
them in rupees or bartering them for gunpowder. On repeating the question
for wa