chief reasons for disliking the English is, that they are such
abominable liars.
We now steered more to the southward, and in three days discovered
another small island. It was apparently well wooded, although not
large. We hove-to, to windward of it, and not perceiving any
inhabitants, I lowered down a boat, and sent the first mate on shore to
reconnoitre. He returned in an hour, informing me that the island was
covered with cocoa-nut trees in full bearing, and that he had seen
several wild pigs, but no symptoms of its being inhabited--that there
was no anchorage that he could discover, as the shore rose
perpendicularly, like a wall, from the ocean. We therefore ran to
leeward, and discovered that a reef of coral rocks extended nearly two
miles from that side of the island. The boats were again lowered; and
after surveying, the mate reported that there was a passage, with plenty
of water for the ship, through the very centre of the reef, which would
bring her into a small bay, where she might lay in perfect security.
Before night we had gained the anchorage, and furled sails. The next
morning I went on shore to reconnoitre; we found some springs of fresh
water, cocoa-nuts and other trees in abundance, and occasionally fell in
with herds of wild pigs, which appeared, with the exception of birds, to
be the only animals that existed upon the island. Satisfied that I now
had an opportunity of revictualling my ship, I unbent my sails, struck
my topmasts, unrove my running rigging, and, in short, made every
preparation for a long stay. I then sent parties on shore to erect
tents, and shoot the wild pigs, while I superintended the fixing of
coppers on the beach to boil the salt out of the sea water, which would
be necessary for curing the provisions. I also dug shallow pans in the
rock, close to the water's edge, that I might gain as much salt as
possible by means of evaporation. Every thing was prepared in the
course of the day, and the major part of my ship's company were landed,
and slept in the tents. In three days we had salted down several casks
of pork, and had collected a large quantity of cocoa-nuts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account