nt for ourselves, we got for our
cattle some grass, and a quantity of the leaves and branches of young
cocoa-trees, and of the _wharra_-tree, as it is called at Otaheite, the
_pandanus_ of the East Indies. This latter being of a soft, spungy,
juicy nature, the cattle eat it very well when cut into small pieces; so
that it might be said, without any deviation from truth, that we fed
them upon billet wood.

This island lies in the latitude of 19 deg. 51' S. and the longitude of 201 deg.
37' E, about three or four leagues from Wateeoo, the inhabitants of
which called it Otakootaia; and sometimes they spoke of it under the
appellation of Wenooa-ette, which signifies little island. Mr Anderson,
who was on shore with our party, and walked round it, guessed that it
could not be much more than three miles in circuit. From him I also
learned the following particulars: The beach, within the reef, is
composed of a white coral sand, above which the land within does not
rise above six or seven feet, and is covered with a light reddish soil,
but is entirely destitute of water.

The only common trees found there were cocoa-palms, of which there were
several clusters, and vast numbers of the _wharra_. There was likewise
the _callophyllum, suriana, guettarda_, a species of _tournefortia_, and
_tabernae montanae_, with a few other shrubs, and some of the _etoa_
tree seen at Wateeoo. A sort of bind-weed over-ran the vacant spaces,
except in some places, where was found a considerable quantity of
_treacle-mustard_, a species of _spurge_, with a few other small plants,
and the _morinda citrifolia_, the fruit of which is eaten by the natives
of Otaheite in times of scarcity. Omai, who had landed with the party,
dressed some of it for their dinner, but it proved very indifferent.

The only bird seen amongst the trees was a beautiful cuckoo, of a
chesnut brown, variegated with black, which was shot. But upon the shore
were some egg-birds; a small sort of curlew; blue and white herons; and
a great number of noddies; which last, at this time, laid their eggs a
little farther up on the ground, and often rested on the wharra-tree.

One of our people caught a lizard of a most forbidding aspect, though
small, running up a tree; and many of another sort were seen. The bushes
toward the sea were frequented by infinite cumbers of a sort of moth,
elegantly speckled with red, black, and white. There were also several
other sorts of moths, as well as s