duplicates of his drawings of the dreſſes of the natives, which he had made in the courſe of the voyage. I do not heſitate to aſſure my readers, that thoſe works of his pencil are ſtriking likeneſſes.
I have endeavoured to report, in the moſt exact manner, the facts which I witneſſed during this painful voyage, acroſs ſeas abounding with rocks, and among ſavages, againſt whom it was neceſſary to exert continual vigilance.
General Dentrecaſteaux received the command of the expedition. That officer requeſted from the Government two ſhips of about five hundred tons burden. Their bottoms were ſheathed with wood, and then filled with ſcupper nails. It was not apprehended that this mode would diminiſh their velocity, and it was thought that it would add to the ſolidity of their conſtruction. It is, however, acknowledged that ſhips ſheathed and bottomed with copper may be conſtructed with equal ſolidity, and that they have greatly the advantage in point of ſailing. Thoſe ſhips received names analogous to the object of the enterprize. That in which General Dentrecaſteaux embarked, was called the Recherche (Reſearch), and the other, commanded by Captain Huon Kermadec, received the name of the Eſperance (the Hope).
