June. 1765. fented it to them; this courtesy, however, produced a difagreeable effect, for he had no fooner given away his Wednes. 12. waistcoat, than one of the Indians very ingeniously untied his cravat, and the next moment fnatched it from his neck, and ran away with it. Our adventurer, therefore, to prevent his being ftripped by piece-meal, made the best of his way back again to the boat: ftill, however, we were upon good terms, and several of the Indians fwam off to our people, fome of them bringing a cocoa-nut, and others a little fresh water in a cocoa-nut fhell. But the principal' object of our boats, was to obtain fome pearls; and the men, to affift them in explaining their meaning, had taken with them fome of the pearl oyfter fhells which they had found in great numbers upon the coaft; but all their endeavours were ineffectual, for they could not, even with this affiftance, at all make themselves understood. It is indeed probable that we should have fucceeded better, if an intercourse of any kind could have been established between us, but it was our misfortune that no anchorage could be found for the fhips. As all Indians are fond of beads, it can scarcely be fuppofed that the pearls, which the oysters at this place contained, were overlooked by the natives, and it is more than probable that if we could have continued here a few weeks, we might have obtained some of great value in exchange for nails, hatchets, and bill-hooks, upon which the natives, with more reafon, fet a much higher value. We obferved, that in the lake, or lagoon, there were two or three very large veffels, one of which had two masts, and fome cordage aloft to support them. To these two islands, I gave the name of KING GEORGE'S ISLANDS, in honour of his Majefty. That which we last vifited, lies in latitude 14° 41' S., longitude 149° 15′ W.; the variation of the compafs here was 5° E. CHAP. CHAP. X. The Run from King George's lands to the Islands of W June. 1765. E pursued our course to the weftward the fame day, and the next, about three o'clock in the afternoon, we faw land again, bearing S. S. W. diftant about fix leagues. Thursday 13. We immediately ftood for it, and found it to be a low and very narrow island, lying east and weft: we ran along the fouth side of it, which had a green and pleasant appearance, but a dreadful furf breaks upon every part of it, with foul ground at some distance, and many rocks and small islands scattered at about three leagues from the shore. We found it about twenty leagues in length, and it appeared to abound with inhabitants, though we could get only a tranfient glance of them as we paffed along. To this place I gave the name of the PRINCE OF WALES'S ISLAND. It lies in latitude Prince of 15° S. and the westermoft end of it in longitude 151° 53′ W. Mand. It is diftant. from King George's Islands about eight and forty leagues, in the direction of S. 80 W.; the variation here was 5° 30′ E. Wales's From the western extremity of this ifland, we fteered N. 82 W. and at noon on the 16th, were in latitude 14° 28′ S., Sunday 16. longitude 156° 23′ W.; the variation being 7° 40′ E. The wind was now eafterly, and we had again the fame mountainous fwell from the fouthward that we had before we made the Iflands of Direction, and which, from that time to 1765. June. Sunday 15. Monday 17. Tuesday 18. Wednef. 19. Thursday 2. Friday 21. this day we had loft: when we loft that fwell, and for fome days before, we faw vaft flocks of birds, which we obferved always took their flight to the fouthward when evening was coming on. These appearances perfuaded me that there was land in the fame direction, and I am of opinion, that if the winds had not failed me in the higher latitudes, I fhould have fallen in with it: I would indeed at this time have hauled away to the fouthward, and attempted the difcovery, if our people had been healthy, for having observed that all the islands we had feen were full of inhabitants, I was still more confirmed in my opinion; as I could account for their being peopled only by fuppofing a chain of islands reaching to a continent; but the fickness of the crews, in both fhips, was an infuperable impediment. The next day, we again faw many birds of various forts about the fhip, and therefore fuppofed that fome other ifland was not far diftant, for the fwell continuing, I concluded that the land was not of very great extent: I proceeded, however, with caution, for the islands in this part of the ocean render the navigation very dangerous, they being fo low, that a fhip may be clofe in with them before they are feen. We faw nothing, however, on the 18th, the 19th, nor the 20th, during which we continued to fteer the fame course, though the birds ftill continued about the veffel in great numbers. Our latitude, was now 12° 33′ S., longitude 167° 47 W. The Prince of Wales's Ifland was diftant three hundred and thirteen leagues, and the variation of the needle was 9° 15 E. The next morning, about feven o'clock, we difcovered a most dangerous reef of breakers, bearing S. S. W. and not farther diftant than a fingle league. In about half an hour afterwards, land was feen from the mast-head, bearing W. N. W. and diftant about eight leagues: it had the appearance of three iflands, with rocks and broken ground 1765. June. ground between them. The fouth eaft fide of these islands lies N. E. by N. and S. W. by S. and is about three leagues in length between the extream points, from both which a reef Friday 21.. runs out, upon which the fea breaks to a tremendous height. We failed round the north end, and upon the north west and weft fide, faw innumerable rocks and fhoals, which ftretched near two leagues into the fea, and were extremely dangerous. The islands themselves had a more fertile and beautiful appearance than any we had seen before, and, like the rest, swarmed with people, whofe habitations we saw standing in clusters all along the coaft. We faw also a large veffel under fail, at a little distance from the shore; but to our unspeakable regret we were obliged to leave the place without farther examination, for it was furrounded in every direction by rocks and breakers, which rendered the hazard more than equivalent to every advantage we might procure. At this time, I took these for part of the islands called Solomon's Islands, and was in hopes that I fhould fall in with others of them, in fome of which we might find an harbour. The reef of rocks which we first faw as we approached these islands, lies in latitude 10° 15′ S., longitude 169° 28′ W. and it bears from Prince of Wales's Ifland N. 76° 48′ W. diftant 352 leagues. The iflands bear from the reef W. N. W. diftant nine leagues: I called them the ISLANDS OF DANGER, and steered from them N. W. by W. allowing for the variation. After having feen the breakers foon after it was light in the morning, I told my officers that I apprehended we should have frequent alarms in the night; at night, therefore,. every body was upon the watch, which a very hard fquall of wind, with rain, rendered the more neceffary. About nine o'clock, having just gone down into my cabbin, I heard a. 1765. June. Friday 21. Monday 24. great noise above, and when I enquired what was the mat- Nothing worthy of notice happened till Monday the 24th, when, about ten o'clock in the morning, we discovered another island, bearing S. S. W. diftant about seven or eight leagues: we fteered for it, and found it to be low, but covered with wood, among which were cocoa-nut trees in great abundance. It had a pleasant appearance, and a large lake in the middle, like King George's Ifland: it is near thirty miles in circumference, a dreadful fea breaks upon almost every part of the coaft, and a great deal of foul ground lies about it. We failed quite round it, and when we were on the lee-side, sent our boats to found, in hopes of finding anchorage: no foundings, however, were to be got near the fhore, but I fent the boats out a fecond time, with orders to land, if it were poffible, and procure fome refreshments for the fick: they landed with great difficulty, and brought off about two hundred cocoa-nuts, which, to perfons in our circumstances, were an inestimable treasure. The people who were on fhore, reported that there were no figns of its having ever been inhabited, but that they found thousands of sea fowl fitting upon their nefts, which were built in high trees: these birds were fo tame that they fuffered themselves to be knocked down without leaving their nefts the ground was covered with land crabs, but our people faw no other animal. At first I was inclined to be |