This island lies in the latitude of 15° 8' north, and longitude from Acapulco 114° 50' west. Its length is about twelve miles, and its breadth about half as much, it extending from the S.S.W. to N.N.E. The soil is everywhere dry and healthy, and being withal somewhat sandy, it is thereby the less disposed to a rank and over-luxuriant vegetation; and hence the meadows and the bottoms of the woods are much neater and smoother than is customary in hot climates. The land rose in gentle slopes from the very beach where we watered to the middle of the island, though the general course of its ascent was often interrupted by vallies of an easy descent, many of which wind irregularly through the country. These vallies and the gradual swellings of the ground which their different combinations gave rise to were most beautifully diversified by the mutual encroachments of woods and lawns, which coasted each other and traversed the island in large tracts. The woods consisted of tall and well-spread trees, the greatest part of them celebrated either for their aspect or their fruit: whilst the lawns were usually of a considerable breadth, their turf quite clean and uniform, it being composed of a very fine trefoil, which was intermixed with a variety of flowers. The woods too were in many places open, and free from all bushes and underwood, so that they terminated on the lawns with a well-defined outline, where neither shrubs nor weeds were to be seen; but the neatness of the adjacent turf was frequently extended to a considerable distance under the hollow shade formed by the trees. Hence arose a great number of the most elegant and entertaining prospects, according to the different blendings of these woods and lawns, and their various intersections with each other, as they spread themselves differently through the vallies, and over the slopes and declivities in which the place abounded. Nor were the allurements of Tinian confined to the excellency of its landskips only; since the fortunate animals, which during the greatest part of the year are the sole lords of this happy soil, partake in some measure of the romantic cast of the island, and are no small addition to its wonderful scenery; for the cattle, of which it is not uncommon to see herds of some thousands feeding together in a large meadow, are certainly the most remarkable in the world, as they are all of them milk-white, except their ears, which are generally brown or black. And though there are { 284} no inhabitants here, yet the clamour and frequent parading of domestic poultry, which range the woods in great numbers, perpetually excite the idea of the neighbourhood of farms and villages, and greatly contribute to the chearfulness and beauty of the place. The cattle on Tinian we computed were at least ten thousand; we had no difficulty in getting near them, for they were not at all shy of us. Our first method of killing them was shooting them; but at last, when by accidents to be hereafter recited we were obliged to husband our ammunition, our men ran them down with ease. Their flesh was extremely well tasted, and was believed by us to be much more easily digested than any we had ever met with. The fowls too were exceeding good, and were likewise run down with little trouble; for they could scarce fly further than an hundred yards at a flight, and even that fatigued them to such a degree that they could not readily rise again, so that, aided by the openness of the woods, we could at all times furnish ourselves with whatever number we wanted. Besides the cattle and the poultry we found here abundance of wild hogs. These were most excellent food, but as they were a very fierce animal, we were obliged either to shoot them, or to hunt them with large dogs, which we found upon the place at our landing, and which belonged to the detachment which was then upon the island amassing provisions for the garrison of Guam. As these dogs had been purposely trained to the killing of the wild hogs, they followed us very readily and hunted for us; but though they were a large bold breed, the hogs fought with so much fury that they frequently destroyed them, whence we by degrees lost the greatest part of them.