best made men at Vavaoo. He was beyond conception swift of foot; to see him run, you would think he outstripped the wind; the grass seemed not to bend beneath his feet, and on the beach you would scarcely expect to find the traces of his footstep.

Such is a general sketch of some of the principal men of Vavaoo, who had always behaved in a most friendly way to Mr. Mariner, and whom of course he could not help feeling very great regret at parting with. His attention was soon occupied, however, by the arrival of the ship at the Hapai islands, where she stood off and on during the time she remained (two days) between the islands of Haano and Lefooga.

A vast number of canoes came alongside from the neighbouring islands, and several of the chiefs were allowed to come on board. Mr. Mariner now took the earliest opportunity, in the first place, to procure the escape of any Englishmen who might be there; and, secondly, to fulfil the sundry commissions he had received from his Vavaoo friends. The cooper of the Port au Prince, who, it will be recollected, was the last man that remained on board with him, was now under the protection and in the service of Voona, who, with Toobo Toa, came on board the Favourite. He, therefore, immediately took

proper means to get the cooper (Robert Brown) on board, and had the pleasure of succeeding. Other Englishmen were at the more distant islands, and Robert Brown most generously undertook to go for them, at the risk of being detained, or of the ship's departure without him. The captain advised him not to go, if he valued his own liberty; but he replied, "it would be very hard indeed if one Englishman could not assist another, although it was at his own risk." He was particularly interested in the fate of Samuel Carlton, the boatswain of the Port au Prince, who had always been his intimate friend. This man's case was rather hard: when he was in England, he was about to be married to a young woman to whom he had been long attached; but thinking he had not yet sufficient to begin the world with, in some business on shore, he thought it would be more prudent to go first another voyage and increase his means, and accordingly he entered on board the Port au Prince. During his residence at the Hapai islands he was always in a low and almost desponding state of mind, and his friend Robert Brown most cordially participated in his distress. At the moment we are speaking of, the latter conjectured that he was at Namooca, and was resolved to run the greatest risks to effect

his escape, as well as that of others whom he supposed to be with him, particularly George Wood, the carpenter's mate. He accordingly, after much trouble, and offer of considerable rewards, persuaded four of the natives to accompany him to Namooca, a distance of fifty miles, in a single sailing canoe, where, when he arrived, to his great mortification, he found that the object of his search, as well as two or three other Englishmen, were gone to the island of Tonga, to assist the friends of Toobo Toa, in the garrison of Hihifo. He then deliberated, whether he should push on to Tonga, a distance of sixty miles farther; but the men refused to take him, and he was obliged to return, bringing with him Emanuel Perez, a Spaniard, and Josef, a black, who both belonged to the Port au Prince. In the mean time, three more Englishmen arrived on board, viz. Nicholas Blake (seaman), and Thomas Eversfield and Willliam Brown, (lads of 17 years of age), who afterwards returned on shore, refusing to go away*.

It must be mentioned, that two or three men belonging to the Port au Prince got away about eighteen months before, in a schooner which happened to touch at Vavaoo. Among these was William Towel, who now resides in Cross-street, Westmorland-place, City-road, and follows the

Mr. Mariner was much disappointed on finding that his adopted mother, Mafi Habe, was gone to a distant island to see some friend; the presents that he brought for her from the king and queen he left, therefore, with one of her relations, to be given to her as soon as she returned, with some presents from himself, to keep in remembrance of him. He sent on shore, to the island of Foa, for the old mataboole, the confident of Hala Api Api, and communicated to him the message from that chief. He also communicated to Toobo Toa the king's advice to him, viz. never to attempt the invasion of Vavaoo, but to confine himself to the cultivation and prosperity of his own islands: to which he replied, that war was necessary to keep the minds of his chiefs employed, that they might not meditate conspiracies; and that he should, therefore, direct his arms against some of the garrisons at the island of Tonga. He had the greatest respect, he said, for Finow's family'; but he could not help it if some of his chiefs (as on the late occasion), made attacks upon Vavaoo, for want of other employment. One of the warriors who was engaged in that unsuccessful expedition was now on board: he was wounded on that business of a hair-dresser. Mr. Mariner was at that period at the Hapai islands, and knew nothing of the schooner's arrival.

occasion in the arm by a ball from Mr. Mariner's musket. About a twelvemonth before, he laid a wager with Mr. Mariner that he could not hit a mark which he put on a cocoa-nut tree at a certain distance with his musket: the bet was

a pig. Mr. Mariner accepted the wager, and the king promised to pay the pig if he lost it happened, however, that he missed, and the king lost his pig. The warrior, as soon as he saw Mr. Mariner on board, came up to him, and said, smiling, “I find you can shoot better than you did at the cocoa-nut tree." Mr. Mariner enquired after his wound, and was happy to find that it had got nearly well. The ball had passed through the fleshy part of the arm ; his Hapai surgeon, however, had laid the wound considerably open, and managed it very well.

It was very ludicrous to hear the different strange excuses and apologies made by the natives, in regard to the affair of the Port au Prince, with a view to persuade the captain that they had nothing to do with it. Many said that they were not on board; and knew nothing about it till it was all over, and then they were very sorry indeed to hear of it, and thought it a very bad thing: one man acknowledged that he was on board, being there out of curiosity, but that he knew nothing beforehand of