which we saw; such as clubs and spears, which were carved in a very masterly manner; cloth beautifully chequered; variegated mats; earthen pots, and some other articles; all which had a cast of superiority in the execution. I have mentioned that Feejee lies three days’ sail from Tongataboo, because these people have no other method of measuring the distance from island to island, but by expressing the time required to make the voyage in one of their canoes. In order to ascertain this with some precision, or, at least, to form some judgment how far these canoes can sail in a moderate gale, in any given time, I went on board one of them when under sail, and, by several trials with the log, found that she went seven knots or miles in an hour, close hauled, in a gentle gale. From this I judge that they will sail, on a medium, with such breezes as generally blow in their sea, about seven or eight miles in an hour. But the length of each day is not to be reckoned at twenty-four hours. For when they spoke of one day’s sail, they mean no more than from the morning to the evening of the same day; that is, ten or twelve hours at most. And two days’ sail, with them, signifies from the morning of the first day to the evening of the second; and so for any other number of days. In these navigations the sun is their guide by day, and the stars by night. When these are obscured, they have recourse to the points from whence the winds and the waves came upon the vessel. If, during the obscuration, both the wind and the waves should shift (which, within the limits of the trade-wind, seldom happens at any other time), they are then bewildered, frequently miss their intended port, and are never heard of more. The history of Omai’s countrymen, who were driven to Wateeoo, leads us to infer, that those not heard of are not always lost.