Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/272

214 been ashore at a spot where were many deserted Indian houses: here he had seen several things tied up to the branches of trees, particularly human hair, which he brought away with him, enough to have made a sizable wig. This induced him to think that the place was consecrated to religious purposes; possibly it was, as they certainly have such places among them, though I have not yet been lucky enough to meet with them.

24th. Went to-day to the heppah or town, to see our friends the Indians, who received us with much confidence and civility, and showed us every part of their habitations, which were neat enough. The town was situated upon a small island or rock separated from the main by a breach in the rock, so small that a man might almost jump over it; the sides were everywhere so steep as to render fortifications, even in their fashion, almost totally unnecessary; accordingly there was nothing but a slight palisade, and one small fighting stage at one end where the rock was most accessible. The people brought us several bones of men, the flesh of which they had eaten. These are now become a kind of article of trade among our people, who constantly ask for and purchase them for whatever trifles they have. In one part we observed a kind of wooden cross ornamented with feathers, made exactly in the form of a crucifix. This engaged our attention, and we were told that it was a monument to a dead man; maybe a cenotaph, as the body was not there. This much they told us, but would not let us know where the body was.

25th. Dr. Solander and I (who have now nearly exhausted all the plants in our neighbourhood) went to-day to search for mosses and small things, in which we had great success, gathering several very remarkable ones. In the evening we went out in the pinnace, and fell in with a large family of Indians, who have now begun to disperse themselves, as is, I believe, their custom, into the different creeks and coves where fish are most plentiful. A few only remain in the heppah, to which they all fly in times of danger. These people came a good way to meet us at a