ship was driven to leeward of the
bay in which they landed; and it was not until the third day that it was
possible to send a boat after them. Mr. Dell himself was employed on this
occasion, and returned with the melancholy account of his being unable to
discover their lost companions. An armed force was then sent on shore,
but succeeded only in burning the huts and inclosures of the natives. At
a fire they found some incontestable proofs that their friends could not
be living; of three human hands which they took up, one, by some
particular marks, was positively thought by Mr. Dell to have belonged to
Mr. Carter; their great coats were also found with the buttons cut off, a
tinderbox, a lantern, a tomahawk, and other articles from the boat, were
also found; but though they rowed entirely round the island, looking into
every cove or creek, the boat could not be seen. Mr. Dell was, if
possible, to procure two prisoners; but he could not succeed. In the
intercourse, however, which he had with them, they gave him to understand
by signs, that they had killed all who were in the boat, except two: at
least, so Mr. Dell thought; but if it was so, nothing could be hoped from
the exception, nor could any other conclusion be formed, than that they
were reserved perhaps for more deliberate torture and a more horrid end.

This island was described as abounding with the red sweet potato, sugar
cane, plantains, bamboo, cocoa trees, and mangroves. The natives appeared
stout, and were in height from five feet eight to six feet two inches;
their colour dark, and their language harsh and disagreeable. The weapons
which were seen were spears, lances made of a hard black wood, and clubs
about four feet in length. They lived in huts resembling a hay-cock, with
a pole driven through the middle, formed of long grass and the leaves of
the cocoa tree. These huts might contain six or eight persons each, and
were inclosed with a fence of bamboo. In a corner of some of the huts
which they entered, they perceived a wooden image, intended to resemble a
man; in others the figure of a bird, very rudely carved, daubed with red,
and curiously decorated with the feathers of the emu. Over these images
were suspended from the roof several strings of human hands, each string
having five or six hands on it. In some they found small piles of human
skulls; and in one, in which there was a much larger pile of skulls than
in any other that they had visited, they o