The only bird seen amongst the trees was a beautiful cuckoo, of a chesnut brown, variegated with black, which was shot.  But upon the shore were some egg-birds; a small sort of curlew; blue and white herons; and a great number of noddies; which last, at this time, laid their eggs a little farther up on the ground, and often rested on the wharra-tree.

One of our people caught a lizard of a most forbidding aspect, though small, running up a tree; and many of another sort were seen.  The bushes toward the sea were frequented by infinite cumbers of a sort of moth, elegantly speckled with red, black, and white.  There were also several other sorts of moths, as well as some pretty butterflies, and a few other insects.

Though there were, at this time, no fixed inhabitants upon the island, indubitable marks remained of its being at least occasionally frequented.  In particular, a few empty huts were found.  There were also several large stones erected, like monuments, under the shade of some trees, and several spaces inclosed with smaller ones, where, probably, the dead had been buried.  And, in one place, a great many cockle-shells, of a particular sort, finely grooved, and larger than the first, were to be seen; from which it was reasonable to conjecture, that the island had been visited by persons who feed partly on shell-fish.  In one of the huts Mr Gore left a hatchet and some nails, to the full value of what we took away.

As soon as the boats were hoisted in, I made sail again to the northward, with a light air of wind easterly, intending to try our fortune at Hervey’s Island, which was discovered in 1773, during my last voyage.  Although it was not above fifteen leagues distant, yet we did not get sight of it till day-break in the morning of the 6th, when it bore W.S.W. at the distance of about three leagues.  As we drew near it, at eight o’clock, we observed several canoes put off from the shore, and they came directly toward the ships.  This was a sight that indeed surprised me, as no signs of inhabitants were seen when the island was first discovered; which might be owing to a pretty brisk wind that then blew, and prevented their canoes venturing out as the ships passed to leeward, whereas now we were to windward.

As we still kept on toward the island, six or seven of the canoes, all double ones, soon came near us.  There were from three to six men in each of them.  They stopped at the distance of about a stone’s throw from the ship, and it was some time before Omai could prevail upon them to come along-side; but no entreaties could induce any of them to venture on board.  Indeed, their disorderly and clamorous behaviour by no means indicated a disposition to trust us, or treat us well.  We afterward learnt that they had attempted to take some oars out of the Discovery’s boat, that lay along-side, and struck a man who endeavoured to prevent them.  They also cut away, with a shell, a net with meat, which hung over that ship’s