make common cause with them. Employers are completely under their control, and there is no manner of redress for idleness or bad work. If the employer complains, they all leave work, refusing to do any thing more, and soon compel him to re-engage them through necessity.

The repairs were made, as has been stated, in Mossman's Cove, on the north shore of the harbour of Sydney, one of the many natural docks that nature has provided for this harbour. The ship was laid aground, so as to expose her whole fore-foot, during the ebb tide. The damage which she had sustained has been before spoken of; the stem was literally worn to within an inch and a half of the woodends. After repairing this, by scraping the stem and putting on a new cut-water, they made use of a diving apparatus to place the new braces, and mend the copper that was broken.

Although they were removed some distance from Sydney and its vile grog-shops, despite the utmost caution to prevent the crew from procuring spirits, it was found that a plan had been formed to supply them with it. In a hut near by, lived an Irishman, familiarly called Paddy, who acted as a kind of suttler, in supplying the messes of the officers and men with fresh bread and milk, and also doing the washing. After a few days it was discovered that the men were obtaining some extra allowance of spirits, and suspicions naturally enough fell on Paddy as the cause of this irregularity, and its consequent disturbances. Orders were therefore given to search him, on his next visit to the ship; this fully confirmed the suspicion, and his presence on board was at once interdicted.

Paddy had no idea of being thus defeated in reaping his harvest from the ship's company; he therefore enlisted in his service a man, if possible, of a worse character than himself, whom he kept constantly supplied with rum, brandy, and gin from Sydney, and made it known to the crew that he was ready to furnish his former customers. The men soon managed, under various pretexts, to visit his hut, and supply themselves at the expense of their clothing, or some other equivalent. This new arrangement succeeded for a time, but was at length detected, and the nuisance wholly stopped; steps were also taken for the punishment of the offenders, by making a complaint against them, which caused the apprehension of Paddy and his partner, and he was required to pay a fine of £30, or be imprisoned for six months.

Paddy was not the only annoyance they had to encounter. Another was the poisonous snakes that infest the secluded nooks of Mossman's Bay, numbers of which were daily seen near the ship; among them

was one resembling the diamond-snake, of a light silvery colour, about eighteen inches in length, and as thick as the little finger: these are very numerous, and it is very desirable to avoid coming in contact with them, for their bite has often proved fatal. Instances are known in Sydney of persons who have been bitten, and have died in a fewhours. An eminent physician of Sydney, on being asked the treatment in case of a bite, replied: "To bandage the affected part as soon as possible, cut it out, and as soon as preparations can be made, amputate the limb!" These venomous snakes frequently crawl into houses near the woods, and persons have been bitten whilst sitting at their doors in the evening. A lady, living on the north shore near the residence of the American consul, was sitting playing on the piano, when, hearing some rustling noise, suddenly looked around, and discovered a diamond-snake only a short distance from her; she screamed aloud and jumped on the music-stool; a servant soon came to the rescue, and killed the intruder. Instances occur repeatedly of these snakes infesting the houses, and so common are they, that if a person is stung, it is at once supposed to be by a snake. The effects of the bite, if not fatal, are said to produce partial blindness.

On the 30th of March they left Sydney, and passed the Heads of Port Jackson on the same afternoon. They had at first light winds, and made but little progress. When about seventy miles from the coast, in latitude 331° S., they experienced a change of four degrees in the temperature of the sea; and on the 3d of April, they found they had been set thirty miles to the southward during the day. On the 5th, the temperature again fell to 72°, with an easterly current. Several English vessels were seen cruising for whales in latitude 28° S., longitude 157° E. The winds continued contrary and light. On the 9th, in longitude 159° 43′ E., latitude 26° S., an opportunity occurred for trying the deep-sea temperature. At eight hundred and thirty fathoms below the surface, the temperature had decreased to 46°, that of the surface being 76°; and the current was found setting east-by-south half a mile per hour. The next day, in longitude 160° E., latitude 25° 40′ S., the experiments were repeated, at different depths; the results will be found in Appendix I.

The current was now found setting to the south-southwest, at the rate of half a mile per hour.

On the 18th they again attempted to get a deep-sea cast, and had nineteen hundred fathoms of line out; in hauling in the line it parted, and nearly seventeen hundred fathoms of it were lost, besides the only self-registering thermometer we had left in the squadron, which put a stop to our experiments. They had now several days of light variable

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winds, with occasional rain and much lightning and thunder. The island of Eooa was made on the 30th of April, and on the 1st of May they passed through the reefs and joined the squadron.

The present King Josiah is one of the sons of Mumui, who was reigning in Cook's time. Three of King Josiah's brothers have preceded him as rulers of Tonga: these were Tugo Aho, Tubou Toa, and Tubou Maloki. The first reigned but a short time, being put to death by Tubou Ninha, a brother of the celebrated Finau. Tubou Ninha was afterwards murdered by Tubou Toa, who reigned over the Hapai Islands, Tubou Maloki receiving the title of King of Tonga, or rather Tui Kanakabolo, or Lord of Kanakabolo, while that of Vavao was governed by the younger Finau, adopted son of Finau Ulukalalu. This was the state of the island at the time of Mariner's, or Togi Uummea's visit. A few months after his departure, Finau died a natural death, and was succeeded by his uncle, Finau Feejee, having Toa Omoo to assist him. Finau Feejee was murdered by Hala Apiapia, who succeeded him; but his ambition of obtaining kingly power was not long satisfied, before he was put to death by Paunga, a high chief. The son of Finau Ulukalalu, named Tuabiji, succeeded, but died within a few years, and did not bear a good character. His dominions were immediately seized upon by Taufaahau, the present King George, then King of Hapai, the son of Tubou Toa, and grandson of Mumui; and there is now a prospect of his becoming king of the whole group. The Tui Kanakabolo, Tubou Maloki, was succeeded by the present King Josiah, or Tubou. Before the death of Tubou Maloki, his power had become very limited, Tonga itself being distracted by many civil broils; neither has his successor, King Josiah, more energy. His domain may now be said to be circumscribed to the town of Nukualofa; and if it had not been for the timely aid of Taufaahau, he would in all probability ere now have been driven from his kingdom. The son of Tubou Maloki, Mumui, before spoken of, is most thought of as his successor, though against such a powerful competitor as King George, he does not stand much chance.

Since leaving the island, in the month of August, whilst employed in the neighbouring group (the Feejee), we learned that the war in Tonga had terminated very differently from what had been anticipated,-in the complete rout of the Christian party, King George and all his warriors being compelled to fly the island. On the arrival of Captain Croker, of H. B. M. sloop Favourite, he warmly interested himself in the advancement of the missionary cause, and determined to engage in negotiations with the heathen; but finding that many difficulties impeded his plans, he unfortunately determined to bring matters at

once to an issue, and demanded that the terms he dictated should be acceded to by the heathen within a few hours. To enforce his demand, he landed a large part of his crew, with officers, and proceeded to the fortress of Bea; only an hour was given its defenders to decide. I am informed that it has since been understood that if a longer time had been granted, they would have acceded to his demand. He was punctual to his time, and on the chiefs refusing to surrender, he made an attack upon the fortress. On his advancing near the gate, he, with many of his officers and men were shot down; the survivors suffered a total defeat, and were obliged to retreat forthwith. The heathen now became the assailants, and the Christian party, together with the missionaries, were forced to embark, and afterwards landed at Vavao; King George was obliged to retire, and Nukualofa was invested by the heathen. Thus ended this religious war, and I cannot but believe that the precipitate zeal of the missionaries was the cause of so disastrous a result. That the heathen were well disposed to make peace, I am well assured; a little patience and forbearance, and at the same time encouraging intercourse with their towns and setting them a good example, would have gradually and surely brought about the desired results; while to force them to become converts, was a mode of proceeding calculated only to excite their enmity and opposition.

The night previous to our sailing, May 3d, two of the Feejee women who had been smuggled from Vavao by Captain Wilson, paddled off in a canoe to the Peacock, entreating to be received on board and conveyed to their own country, and with the view of securing their object, it was found they had thrown away their paddles. The request was denied, and Captain Hudson had new ones at once made for them; they were compelled to enter their canoe again, and paddled off. They then visited the tender Flying-Fish, and in order to prevent their being turned off in the same way, they set their canoe adrift. As it was late at night, they were retained on board, and sent to the Vincennes early in the morning. Well understanding, from the interview I had with King George in relation to the Currency Lass, his feelings on the subject, (for the abduction of these very women from the island of Vavao had been the cause of the difficulty,) I immediately ordered them to be landed. I did this because I was not willing to have an appearance of inconsistency in the minds of these natives, in first blaming conduct I thought unwarrantable in Captain Wilson, and then doing the same act myself. Had I taken any other course, it would no doubt have provoked aggression upon the first American vessel that visited any of the ports of this group. My commiseration and that of many of the officers was

excited at the sight of these poor defenceless creatures, who were desirous to return to their native island, and who had made such strenuous efforts to accomplish their wishes; but my public duty was too well defined for me to allow their tears and entreaties to prevail over higher considerations.

The intercourse between the Feejee and Tonga Islanders, has been of late years frequent; the latter are more inclined to leave their homes than the former, and when a Tongese has once visited the Feejee Group and returns safely, he is looked upon as a traveller. In Tonga they consider and look up to the Feejee Islanders as more polished, and their opinions are viewed with much respect; this, one not only observes in their conversation, but they show it in adopting their manners and customs, and the attention and deference they pay to the opinions of those who have visited or belong to that group; from them they obtain their canoes, and have learned the art of sailing and navigating them; and from the situation of their islands, being more exposed to a rough ocean, they are probably now better and more adventurous navigators. This intercourse is kept up more particularly with the eastern islands of the Feejees: at Lakemba we found many of them residing. When Cook visited this group, little was known of the Feejees. Thirty years afterwards, during the time Mariner resided on the Tonga Islands, the intercourse and information had become greater and more accurate; and at the period of our visit, we heard of many things that were passing in that group as familiar topics; and we found among them many Tongese who were enjoying the hospitality of their western neighbours. The prevailing winds are in favour of the intercourse on the side of the Tongese, which may in some measure account for it; and the favour with which they have always been received, and the flattering accounts those who returned have given of their reception, may in some measure account for the desire they always evince to pay the Feejee Group a visit. In a very few years, through the intercourse that will be brought about by the missionaries, there will be as much passing to and fro between them, as there is now among the several islands of either group, which will have a great tendency to advance the civilization of both.

Previous to my departure, a sailor by the name of Tom Granby desired to have a passage to the Feejees, and although I entertained always much suspicion of the vagabonds who frequent the different islands, Tom's countenance was so very prepossessing, and his modesty as to his capabilities as a pilot such as to satisfy me that he was not one of the runaways or convicts; he was, besides, as he informed me, a resident of the island of Ovolau. I had already made up my mind.