King in person, to converse with him on the object of the expedition, the Captain resolving to comply with his request, landed with 48 men, including officers and scientific gentlemen; and the chief having joined them with a few people, they marched in good order, in search of the banditti. As they proceeded, the chief's party increased like a snowball; when Oedidee began to be alarmed, and intimated, that some of the company were the very robbers they were going against; and that the natives were designing to lead the British into some defile, where they might attack them with advantage. Hence, when the party, after marching several miles, were about to cross a deep valley, with steep rocks on each side, the Captain prudently declined going any further, especially as it was said that the robbers had fled to the mountains. The appearance of some armed parties coming down from the hills, who hid their arms in the bushes, when they saw themselves observed, confirmed the suspicions thrown out by Oedidee. The good King Oree was considered incapable of taking part in such base treachery; but his people, who took advantage of his years and his feebleness, and often acted contrary to his wishes, might have formed such a wicked plot without his knowledge.
When the party arrived at the landing-place, several vollies were fired in quick succession, by the Captain's orders, to impress the natives more forcibly with the power of their fire arms. The great guns had been fired on a former day, at Oree's request, to gratify his curiosity. Several peaceofferings of hogs and fruit, were sent as the result of this expedition. Abundant supplies of fruits were procured at this island; but hogs were rather
