hem getting into each,
they put off, as we imagined, with a design to come on board us; the
ship was therefore brought-to, but they, like their fellows, stopped at
the reef; we did not however immediately make sail, as we observed two
messengers dispatched to them from the other canoes, which were of a
much larger size: We perceived that these messengers made great
expedition, wading and swimming along the reef; at length they met, and
the men on board the canoes making no dispositions to pass the reef,
after having received the message, we judged that they had resolved to
come no farther. After waiting, therefore, some little time longer, we
stood off; but when we were got about two or three miles from the shore,
we perceived some of the natives following us in a canoe with a sail; we
did not, however, think it worth while to wait for her, and though she
had passed the reef, she soon after gave over the chace.

According to the best judgment that we could form of the people, when we
were nearest the shore, they were about our size, and well-made. They
were of a brown complexion, and appeared to be naked; their hair, which
was black, was confined by a fillet that went round the head, and stuck
out behind like a bush. The greater part of them carried in their hands
two weapons; one of them was a slender pole, from ten to fourteen feet
long, on one end of which was a small knob, not unlike the point of a
spear; the other was about four feet long, and shaped like a paddle, and
possibly might be so, for some of their canoes were very small: Those
which we saw them launch seemed not intended to carry more than the
three men that got into them. We saw others that had on board six or
seven men, and one of them hoisted a sail, which did not seem to reach
more than six feet above the gunwale of the boat, and which, upon the
falling of a slight shower, was taken down and converted into an awning
or tilt. The canoe which followed us to sea hoisted a sail not unlike an
English log-sail, and almost as lofty as an English boat of the same
size would have carried.

The people, who kept abreast of the ship on the beach, made many
signals; but whether they were intended to frighten us away, or invite
us on shore, it is not easy to determine. We returned them by waving our
hats and shouting, and they replied by shouting again. We did not put
their disposition to the test by attempting to land; because, as the
island was inconsiderable,