of the charge and the
proof, I gave orders that he should be punished, as well to prevent
other offences of the same kind, as to acquit Mr Banks of his promise;
the Indians saw him stripped and tied up to the rigging with a fixed
attention, waiting in silent suspense for the event; but as soon as the
first stroke was given, they interfered with great agitation, earnestly
entreating that the rest of the punishment might be remitted: To this,
however, for many reasons, I could not consent, and when they found that
they could not prevail by their intercession, they gave vent to their
pity by tears.

Their tears, indeed, like those of children, were always ready to
express any passion that was strongly excited, and, like those of
children, they also appeared to be forgotten as soon as shed; of which
the following, among many others, is a remarkable instance. Very early
in the morning of the 28th, even before it was day, a great number of
them came down to the fort, and Terapo being observed among the women on
the outside of the gate, Mr Banks went out and brought her in; he saw
that the tears then stood in her eyes, and as soon as she entered they
began to flow in great abundance: He enquired earnestly the cause, but
instead of answering, she took from under her garment a shark's tooth,
and struck it six or seven times into her head with great force; a
profusion of blood followed, and she talked loud, but in a most
melancholy tone, for some minutes, without at all regarding his
enquiries, which he repeated with still more impatience and concern,
while the other Indians, to his great surprise, talked and laughed,
without taking the least notice of her distress. But her own behaviour
was still more extraordinary. As soon as the bleeding was over, she
looked up with a smile, and began to collect some small pieces of cloth,
which during her bleeding she had thrown down to catch the blood; as
soon as she had picked them all up, she carried them out of the tent,
and threw them into the sea, carefully dispersing them abroad, as if she
wished to prevent the sight of them from reviving the remembrance of
what she had done. She then plunged into the river, and after having
washed her whole body, returned to the tents with the same gaiety and
cheerfulness as if nothing had happened.

It is not indeed strange that the sorrows of these artless people should
be transient, any more than that their passions should be suddenly and
strongl