It was no less gratifying to an English ear, than honourable to Monsieur
De Perrouse, to witness the feeling manner in which he always mentioned
the name and talents of Captain Cook. That illustrious circumnavigator
had, he said, left nothing to those who might follow in his track to
describe, or fill up. As I found, in the course of conversation, that
the French ships had touched at the Sandwich Islands, I asked M. De
Perrouse what reception he had met with there. His answer deserves to be
known: "During the whole of our voyage in the South Seas, the people of
the Sandwich Islands were the only Indians who never gave us cause of
complaint. They furnished us liberally with provisions, and administered
cheerfully to all our wants." It may not be improper to remark, that
Owhyee was not one of the islands visited by this gentleman.
In the short stay made by these ships at Botany Bay, an Abbe, one of
the naturalists on board, died, and was buried on the north shore. The
French had hardly departed, when the natives pulled down a small board,
which had been placed over the spot where the corpse was interred, and
defaced everything around.
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