ould come back later, he stepped back. The natives then rushed the
boats, trying to drag them onto the beach, and succeeded in stealing two
oars, at the same time wounding several of the boats' crews, amongst them
Mr. Gilbert, the Master, with a shower of stones, spears, and arrows.
Cook attempted to give one of the chiefs a charge of small shot, but his
gun missed fire, and he was obliged, very reluctantly, to order the
marines to fire, with the result that several of the natives were
wounded. Under the circumstances it was not considered worth while
remaining, so the ship left for Tanna, some twelve leagues to the south.
A bright light had been noticed in that direction the night before, which
proved to have been caused by a volcanic eruption.

A good anchorage was found at Tanna, and the ship warped close in.
Several natives coming on board to trade soon developed the usual
propensity to carry off anything that took their fancy--on this occasion
the anchor buoys were the special attraction. Muskets were fired over
their head to no purpose, so a four-pounder was discharged, which for a
time had a good result; but soon they were as bad as ever, so two or
three musquetoons were fired close to them, and though none were hurt,
the crew were able to get their dinner in peace.

HOT SPRINGS.

An old man, called by Cook Paowang, appeared to be inclined to be
friendly, so Cook landed with a strong party to look for water under his
guidance, and met with some of the elders, exchanging presents with them.
The next day the ship was warped in, and three boats went ashore, but the
natives were very threatening, and after some futile attempts to put
things on a peaceable footing a signal was given to the ship and several
guns were fired, when all the natives ran away except Paowang, who was
suitably rewarded for his confidence. After a time permission was
obtained to get wood, water, and ballast, and whilst trying to lift a
stone out of a pool below high-water mark, one of the crew scalded his
hand badly. The pool proved to be one of a series of springs running down
a spur of the volcano into the sea. Several were tested with the
thermometer, and as much as 202 degrees Fahrenheit was attained. Forster
found a number of cracks on the ridge from which sulphurous vapour and
smoke issued, and one of the crew who had been suffering severely from
rheumatism received great temporary benefit from bathing in one of the
springs.

Many goo