orming with their spears, a little too much of the marvellous to be
admitted into an heroic poem; I mean when confined within the strait stays
of Aristotle. Nay, even so great an advocate for him as Mr Pope,
acknowledges them to be _surprising_. But since I have seen what these
people can do with their wooden spears, and them badly pointed, and not of
a very hard nature, I have not the least exception to any one passage in
that great poet on this account. But, if I see fewer exceptions, I can find
infinitely more beauties in him; as he has, I think, scarce an action,
circumstance, or description of any kind whatever, relating to a spear,
which I have not seen and recognised among these people; as their whirling
motion, and whistling noise, as they fly; their quivering motion, as they
stick in the ground when they fall; their meditating their aim, when they
are going to throw, and their shaking them in their hand as they go along,
&c. &c."

I know no more of their cookery, than that it consists of roasting and
baking; for they have no vessel in which water can be boiled. Nor do I know
that they have any other liquor but water and the juice of the cocoa-
nut.[4]

We are utter strangers to their religion; and but little acquainted with
their government. They seem to have chiefs among them; at least some were
pointed out to us by that title; but, as I before observed, they appeared
to have very little authority over the rest of the people. Old Geogy was
the only one the people were ever seen to take the least notice of; but
whether this was owing to high rank or old age, I cannot say. On several
occasions I have seen the old men respected and obeyed. Our friend Paowang
was so; and yet I never heard him called chief, and have many reasons to
believe that he had not a right to any more authority than many of his
neighbours, and few, if any, were bound to obey him, or any other person in
our neighbourhood; for if there had been such a one, we certainly should,
by some means, have known it. I named the harbour Port Resolution, after
the ship, she being the first which ever entered it. It is situated on the
north side of the most eastern point of the island, and about E.N.E. from
the volcano; in the latitude of 19 deg. 32' 25" 1/2 S., and in the longitude of
169 deg. 44' 35" E. It is no more than a little creek running in S. by W. 1/2
W. three quarters of a mile, and is about half that in breadth. A shoal of
sand and rocks, lyin