commanders.
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thrown upon the bystanders by those portions who wished to forward the views of our party. The gentleman who disembarked first, and from that circumstance probably was considered a person of distinction, was escorted to the top of the bank and seated upon a large block of lava, which was the prescribed limit to the party’s advance. An endeavour was then made to form a ring about him; but it was very difficult, on account of the islanders crowding to the place, all in expectation of receiving something. The applicants were impatient, noisy, and urgent: they presented their bags, which they had carefully emptied for the purpose, and signified their desire that they should be filled; they practised every artifice, and stole what they could, in the most careless and open manner; some went even further, and accompanied their demands by threats. About this time one of the natives, probably a chief, with a cloak and head-dress of feathers, was observed from the ship hastening from the huts to the landing-place, attended by several persons with short clubs. This hostile appearance, followed by the blowing of the conch-shell, a sound which Cook observes he never knew to portend good, kept our glasses for a while rivetted to the spot. To this chief it is supposed, for it was impossible to distinguish amongst the crowd, Lieut. Peard made a handsome present, with which he was very well pleased, and no apprehension of hostilities was entertained. It happened, however, that the presents were expended, and this officer was returning to the boat for a fresh supply, when the natives, probably mistaking his intentions, became exceedingly clamorous; and the confusion was further increased by a marine endeavouring to regain his cap, which had been snatched from his head. The natives took advantage of the confusion, and redoubled their endeavours to pilfer, which our party were at last obliged to repel by threats, and sometimes by force. At length they became so audacious that there was no longer any doubt of their intentions, or that a system of open plunder had commenced; which with the appearance of clubs and sticks, and the departure of the women, induced Lieut. Peard, very judiciously, to order his party into the boats. This seemed to be the signal for an assault. The chief who had received the present threw a large stone, which struck Lieut. Peard forcibly upon the back, and was immediately followed by a shower of missiles which darkened the air. The natives, in the water and about the boats, instantly withdrew to their comrades, who had run behind a bank out of the reach of the muskets; which former experience alone could have taught them to fear, for none had yet been fired by us. The stones, each of which weighed about a pound, fell incredibly thick, and with such precision, that several of the seamen were knocked down under the thwarts of the boat; and every person was more or less wounded. * * * A blank cartridge was at first fired over the heads of the crowd; but forbearance, which with savages is generally mistaken for cowardice or inability, only augmented their fury. The showers of stones were, if
