ing the word _surfeit_ in its literal and common acceptation, we
imagined that those who tasted the fish when Lord Anson first came
hither, were made sick merely by eating too much; whereas, if that had
been the case, there would have been no reason for totally abstaining
afterwards, but only eating temperately. We however bought our knowledge
by experience, which we might have had cheaper; for though all our
people who tasted this fish, eat sparingly, they were all soon
afterwards dangerously ill.

[Footnote 44: The other account indicates a little more gratitude:--"Our
people had as much good beef and broth as we could possibly expend; with
guavas, oranges, lemons, limes, plenty of excellent cabbages, which grow
on the cocoa-trees, and the bread-fruit, for which these islands are
justly famous; and not only poultry like those in England, but wild fowl
of various sorts,"]

Besides the fruit that has been mentioned already, this island produces
cotton and indigo in abundance, and would certainly be of great value if
it were situated in the West Indies. The surgeon of the Tamar enclosed a
large spot of ground here, and made a very pretty garden; but we did
not stay long enough to derive any advantage from it.[45]

[Footnote 45: The descriptions of this island given by the author of
Anson's Voyage, and in the other account of this one, so often referred
to, are both more favourable than Byron's; a circumstance which may,
perhaps, be accounted for on very common principles, without any
impeachment of the respective authorities. The former description was
purposely omitted in our 10th volume, as it was judged advisable to
introduce it in this place, so that the reader might directly compare it
with that which is given in the text. Here it follows entire:--

"Its length is about twelve miles, and its breadth about half as much;
it extending from the S.S.W to N.N.E. The soil is every where dry and
healthy, and somewhat sandy, which being less disposed than other soils
to a rank and over luxuriant vegetation, occasions the meadows and the
bottoms of the woods to be much neater and smoother than is customary'
in hot climates. The land rises by easy slopes, from the very beach
where we watered to the middle of the island; though the general course
of its ascent is often interrupted and traversed by gentle descents and
valleys; and the inequalities that are formed by the different
combinations of these gradual swellings of the