Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/265

Rh whennua, the land would turn to the southward, and from thence extend no more to the west. This place we concluded must be Cape Maria Van Diemen; and finding these people so intelligent, desired Tupia to inquire if they knew of any countries besides this, or ever went to any. They said no, but that their ancestors had told them that to the N.W. by N. or N.N.W. was a large country to which some people had sailed in a very large canoe, which passage took them a month. From the expedition a part only returned, who told their countrymen that they had seen a country where the people eat hogs, for which animal they used the same name (Booah) as is used in the islands. "And have you no hogs among you?" said Tupia.—"No."—"And did your ancestors bring none back with them?"—"No."—"You must be a parcel of liars then," said he, "and your story a great lie, for your ancestors would never have been such fools as to come back without them." Thus much as a specimen of Indian reasoning.

10th. This morning we were near the land, which was quite barren, hills beyond hills, and ridges even far inland were covered with white sand on which no kind of vegetable was to be seen. It was conjectured by some that the land here might be very narrow, and that the westerly wind blew the sand right across it. Some Indian forts or heppahs were seen.

18th. On a rock pretty near us we saw through our glasses an Indian fort, which we all thought was encircled with a mud wall; if so, it is the only one of the kind we have seen.

24th. Land in sight: an island, or rather several small ones, most probably the Three Kings, so that it was conjectured that we had passed the cape, which had so long troubled us. From a boat I killed several gannets or solan geese, so like European ones that they are hardly distinguishable from them. As it was the humour of the ship to keep Christmas in the old-fashioned way, it was resolved to make a goose-pie for to-morrow's dinner.

25th. Christmas Day: our goose-pie was eaten with