Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 2 (Stockdale).djvu/326

270 We bought from these inhabitants a piece of cloth, which gave us no very favourable idea of their industry: it was composed of coarse bark of trees, and very indifferently joined together.

One of them wore, suspended upon his breast, a small flat circular piece of alabaster, which he parted with to satisfy us.

This interview had lasted nearly two hours, when, at a signal from one of their chiefs, all the savages left us; but, when they saw our boats preparing to leave the shore, the women came close to the water's edge to endeavour to persuade us to land: we, however, continued steady to our purpose, in a short time got on board the vessels, and soon after set sail for the Islands of Arsacides.

On the 26th, about ten A.M. we perceived the Islands of Deliverance to the westward. At noon we discovered the southernmost of them, between W. 13° S. and W. 19° S. distant about twelve miles, and the other bearing W. 27° S. We found, by observation, that our vessel was in 10° 48′ S. lat. and 160° 18′ E. long. Almost the whole circumference of these two small islands is very rugged, but they do not lie very high. We perceived inhabitants upon them, and large plantations of cocoa trees.