1765.

June.

York's

lieve that this island was the fame that in the Neptune François is called Maluita, and laid down about a degree to the eastward of the great island of Saint Elizabeth, which is the Monday 24. principal of the Solomon's Iflands; but being afterwards convinced of the contrary, I called it the DUKE of YORK's Duke of ISLAND, in honour of his late Royal Highness, and I'am of Inland. opinion that we were the first human beings who ever saw it. There is indeed great reason to believe that there is no good authority for laying down Solomon's Islands in the fituation that is affigned to them by the French: the only perfon. who has pretended to have seen them is Quiros, and I doubt whether he left behind him any account of them by which they might be found by future navigators.

We continued our courfe till the 29th, in the track of thefe Saturday 29. iflands, and being then. ten degrees to the weftward of their fituation in the chart, without having, feen any thing of them, I hauled to the northward, in order to cross the equinoxial, and afterwards fhape my courfe for the Ladrone Islands, which, though a long run, I hoped to accomplish. before I should be diftreffed for water, notwithstanding it. now began to fall fhort. Our latitude, this day, was 8° 13' S., longitude 176° 20 E. and the variation was 10° 10' E.

July.

Tuesday 2.

On Tuesday the 2d of July, we again faw many birds about the ship, and at four o'clock in the afternoon, difcovered an island bearing north, and distant about fix leagues we ftood for it till fun-fet, when it was diftant about four leagues, and then kept off and on for the night. In the morning, we found it a low flat island, of a moft de- Wednef. 3.. lightful appearance, and full of wood, among which the cocoa-nut tree was very confpicuous: we faw, however, to our great regret, much foul ground about it, upon which the fea broke with a dreadful furf. We fteered along the 6 fouth

1765. July.

Wednef. 3.

fouth weft fide of it, which we judged to be about four leagues in length, and foon perceived not only that it was inhabited, but very populous; for presently after the ship came in fight, we faw at leaft a thousand of the natives affembled upon the beach, and in a very short time more than fixty canoes, or rather proas, put off from the shore, and made towards us. We lay by to receive them, and they were very foon ranged in a circle round us. Thefe veffels were very neatly made, and fo clean that they appeared to be quite new: none of them had fewer than three perfons on board, nor any of them more than fix. After these Indians had gazed at us fome time, one of them fuddenly jumped out of his proa, fwam to the fhip, and ran up the fide like a cat: as foon as he had stepped over the gunwale, he fat down upon it, and burst into a violent fit of laughter, then started up, and ran all over the fhip, attempting to fteal whatever he could lay his hands upon, but without fuccefs, for being ftark naked, it was impoffible to conceal his booty for a moment. Our seamen put on him a jacket and trowsers, which produced great merriment, for he had all the geftures of a monkey newly dreffed: we alfo gave him bread, which he eat with a voracious appetite, and after having played a thousand antic tricks, he leaped overboard, jacket and trowfers and all, and fwam back again to his proa; after this feveral others fwam to the fhip, ran up the fide of the gun-room ports, and having crept in, fnatched up whatever lay in their reach, and immediately leaped again into the fea, and fwam away at a great rate, though fome of them, having both hands full, held up their arms quite out of the water, to prevent their plunder from being fpoiled. These people are tall, well proportioned, and cleanlimbed their fkin is a bright copper colour, their features are extremely good, and there is a mixture of intrepidity

and

and chearfulness in their countenances that is very striking. They have long black hair, which fome of them wore tied up behind in a great bunch, others in three knots: fome of them had long beards, fome only whiskers, and fome nothing more than a small tuft at the point of the chin. They were all of them ftark naked, except their ornaments, which confifted of fhells, very prettily difpofed and ftrung together, and were worn round their necks, wrifts, and waifts: all their ears were bored, but they had no ornaments in them when we saw them: fuch ornaments as they wear, when they wear any, are probably very heavy, for their ears hang down almost to their fhoulders, and fome of them werd quite fplit through. One of thefe men, who appeared to be a person of some confequence, had a ftring of human teeth about his waift, which was probably a trophy of his military prowefs, for he would not part with it in exchange for any thing that I could offer him. Some of them were unarmed, but others had one of the most dangerous weapons I had ever feen: it was a kind of fpear, very broad at the end, and stuck full of shark's teeth, which are as fharp as a lancet, at the fides, for about three feet of its length. We fhewed them fome cocoa-nuts, and made figns that we wanted more; but instead of giving any intimation that they could fupply us, they endeavoured to take away those we had.

1765. July.

Wednef. 3.

I fent out the boats to found foon after we brought to off the island, and when they came back, they reported that there was ground at the depth of thirty fathom, within two cables' length of the fhore; but as the bottom was coral rock, and the foundings much too near the breakers for a fhip to lie in safety, I was obliged again to make fail, without procuring any refreshments for the fick. This ifland, to which my officers gave the name of BYRON'S ISLAND, lics in lati- Byron's

VOL. I.,

Island.

1765. July.

Wednef. 3.

Sunday 21.

Monday 22.

I

tude 1° 18′ S., longitude 173° 46′ E.; the variation of the compafs here, was one point E.

In our course from this place, we faw, for feveral days, abundance of fish, but we could take only sharks, which were become a good dish even at my own table. Many of the people now began to fall down with fluxes, which the Surgeon imputed to the exceffive heat, and almoft perpetual rains.

1

By the 21st, all our cocoa-nuts being expended, our people began to fall down again with the fcurvy. The effect of these nuts alone, in checking this disease, is astonishing: many whofe limbs were become as black as ink, who could not move without the affistance of two men, and who, befides total debility, fuffered excruciating pain, were in a few days, by eating these nuts, although at fea, so far recovered as to do their duty, and could even go aloft as well as they did before the diftemper feized them.. For feveral days, about this time, we had only faint breezes, with smooth water, fo that we made but little way, and as we were now not far from the Ladrone Iflands, where we hoped fome refreshments might be procured, we most ardently wished for a fresh gale, especially as the heat was ftill intolerable, the glass for a long time having never been lower than eightyone, but often up to eighty-four; and I am of opinion that this is the hotteft, the longeft, and moft dangerous run that ever was made.

On the 18th, we were in latitude 13° 9 N., longitude 158° 50 E., and on the 22d, in latitude 14° 25′ N., longitude 153° 11 ́E. during which time we had a northerly current. Being now nearly in the latitude of Tinian, I fhaped my course for that ifland.

С НА Р.

The Arrival of the Dolphin and Tamar at Tinian, a Defcription of the prefent Condition of that Ifland, and an Account of the Transactions there.

ON

1765. July.

Tuesday 30.

N the 28th, we faw a great number of birds about the fhip, which continued till the 30th, when about two o'clock in the afternoon we faw land, bearing W. N. Sunday 28. which proved to be the islands Saypan, Tinian, and Aiguigan. At funfet, the extremes of them bore from N. W. N. weftward to S. W.; and the three islands had the appearance of one. At feven, we hauled the wind, and ftood off and on all night; and at fix the next morning, the extremes of the Wednef. 31. iflands, which still made in one, bore from N. W. by N. to S. W. by S. distant five leagues. The eaft fide of these islands lies N. E. by N. and S. W. by S. Saypan is the northermoft; and from the north east point of that ifland to the south weft point of Aiguigan, the distance is about feventeen leagues. Thefe three islands are between two and three leagues distant from each other; Saypan is the largest, and Aiguigan, which is high and round, the fmallest. We fleered along the east side of them, and at noon hauled round the fouth point of Tinian, between that ifland and Aiguigan, and anchored at the fouth weft end of it, in fixteen fathom water, with a bottom of hard fand and coral rock, oppofite to a white fandy bay, about a mile and a quarter from the fhore, and about three quarters of a mile from a reef of rocks that lies at a good diftance from the fhore, in the very Q 2 spot