[Footnote 149: A very ingenious and satisfactory account of the cause of the surf, is to be met with in Marsden'a History of Sumatra, p. 29-32.--D.]
We presently found that the island was inhabited, and saw several people, on a point of the land we had passed, wading to the reef, where, as they found the ship leaving them quickly, they remained. But others, who soon appeared in different parts, followed her course; and sometimes several of them collected into small bodies, who made a shouting noise all together, nearly after the manner of the inhabitants of New Zealand.
Between seven and eight o'clock, we were at the W.N.W. part of the island, and, being near the shore, we could perceive with our glasses, that several of the natives, who appeared upon a sandy beach, were all armed with long spears and clubs, which they brandished in the air with signs of threatening, or, as some on board interpreted their attitudes, with invitations to land. Most of them appeared naked, except having a sort of girdle, which, being brought up between the thighs, covered that part of the body. But some of them had pieces of cloth of different colours, white, striped, or chequered, which they wore as a garment, thrown about their shoulders. And almost all of them had a white wrapper about their heads, not much unlike a turban; or, in some instances, like a high conical cap. We could also perceive that they were of a tawny colour, and, in general, of a middling stature, but robust, and inclining to corpulence.
At this time, a small canoe was launched in a great hurry from the further end of the beach, and a man getting into it, put off, as with a view to reach the ship. On perceiving this, I brought-to, that we might receive the visit; but the man's resolution failing, he soon returned toward the beach, where, after some time, another man joined him in the canoe; and then they both paddled toward us. They stopt short, however, as if afraid to approach, until Omai, who addressed them in the Otaheite language, in some measure quieted their apprehensions. They then came near enough, to take some beads and nails, which were tied to a piece of wood, and thrown into the canoe. They seemed afraid to touch these things, and put the piece of wood aside without untying them. This, however, might arise from superstition; for Omai told us, that when they saw us offering them presents, they asked something for their Eatooa, or god. He also, perhaps improperly, put the question to them, Whether, they ever ate human flesh? which they answered in the negative, with a mixture of indignation and abhorrence. One of them, whose name was Mourooa, being asked how he came by a scar on his forehead, told us that it was the consequence of a wound he had got in fighting with the people of an island, which lies to the north-eastward, who, sometimes came to invade them. They afterward took hold of a rope. Still, however, they would not venture on board; but told Omai, who understood them pretty well, that their countrymen on shore had given them, this caution, at the same time directing them to enquire, from whence our ship came, and to learn the name of the captain. On our part, we enquired the name of the island, which they called Mangya or Mangeea; and sometimes added to it Nooe, nai, naiwa. The name of their chief, they said, was Orooaeeka.
Mourooa was lusty and well-made, but not very tall. His features were agreeable, and his disposition seemingly no less so; for he made several droll gesticulations, which indicated both good-nature and a share of humour. He also made others which seemed of a serious kind, and repeated some words with a devout air, before he ventured to lay hold of the rope at the ship's stern; which was probably to recommend himself to the protection of some Divinity. His colour was nearly of the same cast with that common to the most southern Europeans. The other man was not so handsome. Both of them had strong, straight hair, of a jet colour, tied together on the crown of the head with a bit of cloth. They wore such girdles as we had perceived about those on shore, and we found they were a substance made from the Morus papyrifera, in the same manner as at the other islands of this ocean. It was glazed like the sort used by the natives of the Friendly Islands; but the cloth, on their heads was white, like that which is found at Otaheite. They had on a kind of sandals, made of a grassy substance interwoven, which we also observed were worn by those who stood upon the beach; and, as we supposed, intended to defend their feet against the rough coral rock. Their beards were long; and the inside of their arms, from the shoulder to the elbow, and some other parts, were punctured or tatooed, after the manner of the inhabitants of almost all the other islands in the South Sea. The lobe of their ears was pierced, or rather slit, and to such a length, that one of them stuck there a knife and some beads, which he had received from us; and the same person had two polished pearl-shells, and a bunch of human hair, loosely twisted, hanging about his neck, which was the only ornament we observed. The canoe they came in (which was the only one we saw), was not above ten feet long, and very narrow; but both strong and neatly made. The fore part had a flat board fastened over it, and projecting out, to prevent the sea getting in on plunging, like the small Evaas at Otaheite; but it had an upright stern, about five feet high, like some in New Zealand; and the upper end of this stern-post was forked. The lower part of the canoe was of white wood, but the upper was black, and their paddles, made of wood of the same colour, not above three feet long, broad at one end, and blunted. They paddled either end of the canoe forward indifferently; and only turned about their faces to paddle the contrary way.
We now stood off and on; and as soon as the ships were in a proper station, about ten o'clock I ordered two boats, one of them from the Discovery, to sound the coast, and to endeavour to find a landing-place. With this view, I went in one of them myself, taking with me such articles to give the natives, as I thought might serve to gain their good-will. I had no sooner put off from the ship, than the canoe, with the two men, which had left us not long before, paddled toward my boat; and, having come along-side, Mourooa stept into her, without being asked, and without a moment's hesitation.
Omai, who was with me, was ordered to enquire of him where we could land; and he directed us to two different places. But I saw, with regret, that the attempt could not be made at either place, unless at the risk of having our boats filled with water, or even staved to pieces. Nor were we more fortunate in our search for anchorage; for we could find no bottom, till within a cable's length of the breakers. There we met with from forty to twenty fathoms depth, over sharp coral rocks; so that anchoring would have been attended with much more danger than landing.
While we were thus employed in reconnoitring the shore, great numbers of the natives thronged down upon the reef, all armed as above mentioned. Mourooa, who was now in my boat, probably thinking that this warlike appearance hindered us from landing, ordered them to retire back. As many of them complied, I judged he must be a person of some consequence among them. Indeed, if we understood him right, he was the king's brother. So great was the curiosity of several of them, that they took to the water, and, swimming off to the boats, came on board them without reserve. Nay, we found it difficult to keep them out; and still more difficult to prevent their carrying off every thing they could lay their hands upon. At length, when they perceived that we were returning to the ships, they all left us, except our original visitor Mourooa. He, though not without evident signs of fear, kept his place in my boat, and accompanied me on board the ship.
The cattle, and other new objects, that presented themselves to him there, did not strike him with so much surprise as one might have expected. Perhaps his mind was too much taken up about his own safety, to allow him to attend to other things. It is certain, that he seemed very uneasy; and the ship, on our getting on board, happening to be standing off shore, this circumstance made him the more so. I could get but little new information from him; and therefore, after he had made a short stay, I ordered a boat to carry him in toward the land. As soon as he got out of the cabin, he happened to stumble over one of the goats. His curiosity now overcoming his fear, he stopped, looked at it, and asked Omai, what bird this was? and not receiving an immediate answer from him, he repeated the question to some of the people upon deck. The boat having conveyed him pretty near to the surf, he leaped into the sea, and swam ashore. He had no sooner landed, than the multitude of his countrymen gathered round him, as if with an eager curiosity to learn from him what he had seen; and in this situation they remained, when we lost sight of them. As soon as the boat returned, we hoisted her in, and made sail from the land to the northward.
Thus were we obliged to leave, unvisited, this fine island, which seemed capable of supplying all our wants. It lies in the latitude of 21° 57' S., and in the longitude of 201° 53' E. Such parts of the coast as fell under our observation, are guarded by a reef of coral rock, on the outside of which the sea is of an unfathomable depth. It is full five leagues in circuit, and of a moderate and pretty equal height; though, in clear weather, it may be certainly seen at the distance of ten leagues; for we had not lost sight of it at night, when we had run above seven leagues, and the weather was cloudy. In the middle, it rises into little hills, from whence there is a gentle descent to the shore, which, at the S.W. part, is steep, though not above ten or twelve feet high; and has several excavations made by the beating of the waves against a brownish sand-stone of which it is composed. The descent here is covered with trees of a deep green colour, very thick, but not high, which seem all of one sort, unless nearest the shore, where there are great numbers of that species of dracaena found in the woods of New Zealand, which are also scattered in some other places. On the N.W. part, the shore, as we mentioned above, ends in a sandy beach; beyond which the land is broken down into small chasms or gullies, and has a broad border of trees resembling tall willows; which, from its regularity, might be supposed a work of art, did not its extent forbid us to think so. Farther up on the ascent, the trees were of the deep green mentioned before. Some of us supposed these to be the rima, intermixed with low cocoa palms; and a few of some other sorts. They seemed not so thick as on the S.W. part, and higher; which appearance might be owing to our nearer approach to the shore. On the little hills were some trees of a taller sort, thinly scattered; but the other parts of them were either bare, and of a reddish colour, or covered with something like fern. Upon the whole, the island has a pretty aspect, and might be made a beautiful spot by cultivation.