On approaching land we discovered no habitation; but after going round a point of the island, we saw near the beach a row of small and badly constructed huts. We were compelled to jump from the canoes into the water and wade to the shore. By this time the beach was lined with women and children, who caused the air to resound with the most horrid yells and screams. Their gestures and violent contortions of countenance resembled the frantic ravings of Bedlamites. The reception we met with on land was no more agreeable than that upon the water. Judging from the treatment we had received from the females of the island which we had left, it was hoped that the gentler sex would extend to us some proof of their commiseration; but in this we were sadly disappointed. If possible, they were more cruel than their inhuman lords and masters. We were soon separated from each other, and dragged about from place to place; our brutal captors, in the mean time, contending with each other to see who should have us as his property. Frequent contests of this kind occurred; in one of which, during the first day, I was knocked down. The question of ownership was at length settled, and we were retained by those into whose hands we had at first fallen. Some of us were taken to their house of worship, called by them Verre-Yarris--literally, God's house, where they went through with some of their religious ceremonies, and we received a few mouthfuls of food, which was the first we had tasted through the day. It was my good fortune to be retained by one who, compared with the other natives, was humane. His name was _Pahrahbooah_; the female head of the family was called Nahkit; and they had four children. I went by the name of _Tee'mit_; and Benjamin Nute by the name of _Rollo_. The captain was also fortunate in falling into the hands of a friend of my master, who treated him with comparative kindness. He was valued the more highly also on account of being a large, fleshy man--they judging of these things by the size and appearance. CHAPTER VII. The island, to which they were carried, proves to be Lord North's island, called by the natives _To'bee_.--Account of the island and its inhabitants.--Their manners and customs. It may now be proper in this place to give some account of the place where our unhappy lot was cast, and of its rude and miserable inhabitants. It will be impossible to convey a correct idea of their ignorance, poverty, and degradation; but some conception may be formed, by imagining what the condition of beings must necessarily be, when wholly separated from the rest of their species, stripped of all the refinements of life, and deprived of all means and opportunities for improvement.