The people who were left on board the ship said, that while we were in the woods about twenty of the natives came down to the beach, abreast of her, and having looked at her some time, went away; but we that were ashore, though we saw smoke in many places, saw no people: The smoke was at places too distant for us to get to them by land, except one, to which we repaired. We found ten small fires still burning within a few paces of each other; but the people were gone: We saw near them several vessels of bark, which we supposed to have contained water, and some shells and fish-bones, the remains of a recent meal. We saw also, lying upon the ground, several pieces of soft bark, about the length and breadth of a man, which we imagined might be their beds; and, on the windward side of the fires, a small shade, about a foot and a half high, of the same substance. The whole was in a thicket of close trees, which afforded good shelter from the wind. The place seemed to be much trodden, and as we saw no house, nor any remains of a house, we were inclined to believe that, as these people had no clothes, they had no dwelling; but spent their nights, among the other commoners of Nature, in the open air; and Tupia himself, with an air of superiority and compassion, shook his head, and said, that they were _Taata Enos_, "poor wretches,".[77] I measured the perpendicular height of the last tide, and found it to be eight feet above low-water mark, and from the time of low-water this day, I found that it must be high-water at the full and change of the moon at eight o'clock. [Footnote 77: The natives of New Holland are indeed "poor wretches;" but let it be remembered that the term poor is relative. The reader must make allowance for prejudice, in judging of their state from the testimony of one who had lived in Otaheitan luxury. A Sicilian, it is probable, would give a very sorry account of the Highlands and Highlanders of Scotland-- Yet still e'en here Content can spread a charm, Redress the clime, and all its rage disarm. We never more erroneously estimate the happiness of a people, than when we set up our own habits as the criterion of perfection. The error of Tupia is the error of thousands.--E.]