Litchfield enquirer., 1831-09-22
- - ..--r ecun. ANTARCTIC,

h,d Iost nineteen of his crew, in an iencounser with the natives of a newly discovered Is.anu. ' 2
 The circumstances attending the voyage ot ..hia vessel. are of too remarkable charac- fer to be dismissed with passing notice.
 The Antarctic sailed from New-Y ork l, ln September, 1929, on voyage to inc Oou.n l. Seas, for the purpose of collecting cargo - fur seal skins. In October following sue touched at the Cape de Verd Islands ana oo. tained the salt necessary for the Preserva'IO" of the skins expected to De taNen' ui IO
 and. hut being disappointed in procuring skins there. the captain determined on aiter- ing his voyage, and sailed for Manllla.- Whilst proceeding thither, he fell in with xropp of islands. hs named Nesterheid 3 group. They are small, and real Ot rocks runs from one island to the other. On the day following he discovered land again, and found it to consist of another group of islands extending about seveRty-seven miles north and sonth: these being neither mentioned on any chart. he called them Berght grouP.- Here he had some intercourse with the na- lives. but it was impossible for, him to obtain any information from them as to me In0uce'
 ments to trade which their islands anoFosu' and he there fore continued his course, On the e5th he again saw land' long, IoH 's.anu' which apDeared to beIoaded with cocoa.DI!s, rv;thout However, the least trace of inhab't. sots this isIand he called Livingston Island. m tha 9th of March he arrived at Manila and thera made up his mind to ht out the vessei for a voyage to the Forgee Islands ln aearch of cargo of Beach le Mar, Tortoise shell, &c. &Lc.
 Tn tho prosecution of this voyage he sailed from Manila on the 18th April. Passing ives IslaDd.and Wallace's Islands, he. on the ath of May. made six low islands, called Los Matieas, where the natives came oil to trade with him. but finding they possessed nothing worthy of his notice. his stay with them Was short. They indicated to him that furtnef north he would find a larger quantity or the article in which he was in searcn-neacn le he nassed group of islands called by the na-, lives Tama Tam. another group denomnat. ed on the chart, Young Williams group ana the islands of Mondeverdesant. ,..
 Captain Morrell appears to have had but it- tle ;nsercouTse with the natives Of these pla- ces. merely enough to obtain from them co- coa-nuts and bread fruit, and ascertain that they possessed nothing more. He descrlbes fhe men as being remarkably robust and fati' sometimes by their conduct leading hlm 10 apprehend that they had hostile intentions at others perfectly Peaceable, ana navine ID war weapons about them.
 On the 22d May an accident occurred 70 which he should have attached no importance but which has been carefully noteo ooWh a. mongst tho remarkable events oi the voyage. ;" A little bird, as black as ink" came on hoard inc schooner, and could not be induc- ed to leave her. Some of the men. with the craduitz sa@gmawpr awrt t captaa.ssd on preserving its life. On the fol- living day, the islands to which the name of Massacre Islands was after wards given, were discovered, and the little bird immediately flew to the land. Numerous no doubt have since been the regrets on board. that the bird was allowed to escape; for to it have many of their subsequent misfortunes been strange- ly enough attributed. E
 On the 2Sd May, then, the schooner was in sight of six islands, all small with reef of rocks running from one to the other, through which there is here and there small channel about 100 yards in width. The islands ap- pearcd fruitful, and several large canoes were seen inside the reef, the boat was sent to the reef. and plenty of Beach le Mar. of excellent quality being. found there. the captaindeter mined on endeavoring to procure cargo of that commodity atthis place. After anchor ing and making other necessary preparations, part of the crew was sent on shore on the 26th, hUE LILO puTpUS6 Ot CtCoGtu6 away SHU uCCS uuU bushes and building house where tho Beach le Mar, when taken, might be cured and ren- dered fit for transportation.
 Itis perhaps necessary that we should state here, that Beach ie Mar is a fish of which the Chinese are particularly fond, and for which {. they pay high price.
 Tho natives had come of to the schooner in several large canoes, bringing with them cocoa -nuts and shells. They were negroes oflarge stature, and some of them appeared to possess considerable acnteness. No white men had ever been seen by them before; they thought the crew of the Antarctic were paint. ed, white, and endeayored by rubbing, to bring their skins to the complexion oftheir own.- Their ideas were all confined to the little group ofislands on which they lived. they had however some imperfect notions of another group at some distance from them, and from those they presumed the schooner now came!
 Wa abstain from noticing the surprisethey exhibited on seeing their visitors; the conduct of savages in similar circnmstances is now probably always alike. and there are few of us who have not, at some time or other, dwe!t with deep interest on the details of the first meetings between civilized and uncivilized man. ~
 The boats crew had gotten the forge a- store and set it up; the natives stole some : of ths armorsr's tools, which induced the cap- tain to send another boat with crew well armed they compelled a restoration of the things stolen; but the natives now appeared A. aa. aa.. n