ved
them with great friendship, and showed them the houses of their kings
and principal people, which are in this district: Few of them, however,
were open, for at this time the people had taken up their residence in
the rice-grounds, to defend the crop against the birds and monkies, by
which it would otherwise have been destroyed. When their curiosity was
satisfied, they hired a large sailing boat for two rupees, four
shillings, which brought them back to the ship time enough to dine upon
one of the small deer, weighing only forty pounds, which had been bought
the day before, and proved to be very good and savoury meat.

We went on shore in the evening, to see how the people who were employed
in wooding and watering went on, and were informed that an axe had been
stolen. As the passing over this fault might encourage the commission of
others of the same kind, application was immediately made to the king,
who, after some altercation, promised that the axe should be restored in
the morning; and kept his word, for it was brought to us by a man who
pretended that the thief, being afraid of a discovery, had privately
brought it and left it at his house in the night.

We continued to purchase between two and three hundred weight of turtle
in a day, besides fowls and other necessaries; and in the evening of the
13th, having nearly completed our wood and water, Mr Banks went ashore
to take leave of his majesty, to whom he had made several trifling
presents, and at parting gave him two quires of paper, which he
graciously received. They had much conversation, in the course of which
his majesty enquired, why the English did not touch there as they had
been used to do. Mr Banks replied, that he supposed it was because they
found a deficiency of turtle, of which there not being enough to supply
one ship, many could not be expected. To supply this defect, he advised
his majesty to breed cattle, buffaloes, and sheep, a measure which he
did not seem much inclined to adopt.

On the 14th, we made ready to sail, having on board a good stock of
refreshments, which we purchased of the natives, consisting of turtle,
fowl, fish, two species of deer, one as big as a sheep, the other not
larger than a rabbit; with cocoa-nuts, plantains, limes, and other
vegetables. The deer, however, served only for present use, for we could
seldom keep one of them alive more than four-and-twenty hours after it
was on board. On our part, the trade was carri