Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 1 (Stockdale).djvu/330

304 boats could have stopped some minutes, they would have procured a great number of them.

The satisfaction with which those islanders received nails, and other articles of iron, and the anxiety they showed to obtain them, were proofs that they were acquainted with that metal.

Those people, at first, manifested every appearance of good faith; but they discovered their inclination to theft, as soon as they thought themselves certain of impunity. We had occasion to observe, that those who were the most advanced in years were the boldest thieves.

That little island, which is nearly circular, is about 25,000 toises in diameter, and is situated in 2° 18′ S. lat., and 145° 46′ E. long. It is extremely populous; for we saw about three hundred of its inhabitants.

The white appearance of several places of the island, where fractures discovered the strata, gave me reason to believe, that its base is of a calcareous nature, like the greater part of the South Sea islands.

As soon as the boats were hoisted on board, we directed our course towards the E. ¼ N.E.

30th. The next day we got to the northward of the Admiralty Islands. There we perceived, that an extensive mountainous island occupies the