Besides the fruit that has been mentioned already, this island produces cotton and indigo in abundance, and would certainly be of great value if it was situated in the West Indies. The Surgeon of the Tamar enclosed a large spot of ground here, and made a very pretty garden; but we did not stay long enough to derive any advantage from it.

While we lay here, I sent the Tamar to examine the island of Saypan, which is much larger than Tinian, rises higher, and, in my opinion, has a much pleasanter appearance. She anchored to the leeward of it, at the distance of a mile from the shore, and in about ten fathom water, with much the same kind of ground as we had in the road of Tinian. Her people landed upon a fine sandy beach which is six or seven miles long, and walked up into the woods, where they saw many trees which were very fit for topmasts. They saw no fowls, nor any tracks of cattle; but of hogs and guanicoes there was plenty. They found no fresh water near the beach, but saw a large pond inland, which they did not examine. They saw large heaps of pearl oyster-shells thrown up together, and other signs of people having been there not long before: possibly the Spaniards may go thither at some seasons of the year, and carry on a pearl fishery. They also saw many of those square pyramidal pillars which are to be found at Tinian, and which are particularly described in the Account of Lord Anson’s Voyage.

Voyaging Accounts