1765.

April.

Monday 29.

defence; for the fea abounded with fharks of an enormous size, which, when they faw a man in the water, would dart into the very surf to feize him: our people, however, happily escaped them, though they were many times very near: one of them, which was upwards of twenty feet long, came clofe to one of the boats that was watering, and having feized a large seal, inftantly devoured it at one mouthful; and I myself saw another, of nearly the fame fize, do the fame thing under the thip's flern. Our people killed and sent off se"veral of the goats, which we thought as good as the beft venifon in England; and I observed that one of them appeared to have been caught and marked, its right ear being flit in a manner that could not have happened by accident. We had also fish in such plenty, that one boat would, with hooks and lines, catch, in a few hours, as much as would ferve a large fhip's company two days: they were of various forts, all excellent in their kind, and many of them weighed from twenty to thirty pounds.

This evening, the furf running very high, the gunner and one of the feamen, who were on fhore with the waterers, were afraid to venture off, and the boat therefore, when fhe came on board the last time, left them behind her.

The next day we found a more convenient watering place, about a mile and a half to the northward of the fhip, and about the middle-way between the north and fouth points of the island, there being at this place lefs furf than where the boats first went on fhore. The tide here fet twelve hours to the northward, and twelve to the fouthward, which we found very convenient, for as the wind was foutherly, with a great fwell, the boats could not otherwife have got on board with their water. We got off ten tons of water from the new wateringplace this day, and, in the afternoon, I fent a boat to fetch off the gunner and feamen, who had been left on shore at the old watering-place the night before; but the surf was still fo great, that the feaman, who could not fwim, was afraid to venture: he was therefore again left behind, and the gunner ftaid with him.

As soon as this was reported to me, I fent another boat to inform them that as, by the appearance of the weather,

1765.

April.

weather, there was reafon to believe it would foon blow hard, I was afraid I might be driven off the bank in the night, the confequence of which would be that' they must be left behind upon the ifland. When theboat came to the furf, the people on board delivered my meffage; upon which the gunner fwam through the furf, and got on board her; but the feaman, though he had a cork jacket on, faid he was fure he fhould be drowned if he attempted to get off to the boat, and that, chufing rather to die a natural death, he was determined at all events to remain upon the island : he then took an affectionate leave of the people, wishing them all happiness, and the people on board returned his good wifhes. One of the midshipmen, however, just as the boat was about to return, took the end of a rope in his hand, jumped into the sea, and fwam through the furf to the beach, where poor John ftill continued ruminating upon his fituation, in a dejected attitude, and with a moft difconfolate length of countenance. The midshipman began to expoftulate with him upon the ftrange refolution he had taken, and in the mean time having made a running knot in his rope, he dexterously contrived to throw it round his body, calling out to his companions in the boat, who had hold of the other end of it, to haul away; they inftantly took the hint, and the poor feceder was very foon dragged through the furf into the boat; he had, however, fwallowed fo great a quantity of water, that he was to all appearance dead, but being held up by the heels, he foon recovered his speech and motion, and was perfectly well the next day. In the evening, I removed Captain Mouat from the Tamar, and appointed him Captain of the Dolphin, under me: Mr. Cumming, my first Lieutenant, I appointed Captain of the Tamar, taking Mr. Carteret, her firft Lieutenant, on board in his room, and gave Mr. Kendal, one of the mates of the Dolphin, a commiffion as Second Lieutenant of the Tamar.

On the 30th, at feven o'clock in the morning, we Tuefd. 30. -weighed and steered to the northward, along the east and north east fide of the ifland, but could find no anchoring-place: we bore away, therefore, with a fresh gale at S. E. and hazy weather, and at noon, the middle

F 4

1765. May.

middle of the island was diftant eight leagues, in the direct of S. S. E. I continued to fteer N. 30 W. the Wedn. 1. next day, and at noon, on the 2d of May, I changed Thurf. 2. my courfe, and fteered W. intending, if poflible, to make the land, which is called Davis's Land in the charts, and is laid down in latitude 27° 30' S. and about five hundred leagues weft of Copiapo in Chili; Thurf. 9. but on the 9th, finding little profpect of getting to the weftward, in the latitude which I at first propofed, being then in latitude 26° 46' S. longitude 94° 45′ W. and having a great run to make, I determined to steer a north-west courfe till I got the true trade-wind, and then to stand to the westward till I should fall in with Solomon's Islands, if any fuch there were, or make some new discovery.

Friday 10. On the roth, we faw feveral dolphins, and bonetSatur. 11, tas about the ship, and the next day fome straggling birds which were brown on the back and the upper part of their wings, and white on the rest of the body, with a fhort beak, and a short pointed tail. The variation was now decreased to 4° 45' E. our latitude was 24° 30' S. our longitude 97° 45′ W.

Tuef. 14.

Thurfd. 16.

་

Wedn. 22.

On the 14th, we faw feveral grampuíes, and more of the birds which have juft been defcribed, fo that, imagining we might be near fome land, we kept a good look-out, but faw nothing. In latitude 23° 2' S. longitude 101° 28′ W. the variation, by azimuth, was 3° 20′ E.

On the morning of the 16th, we faw two very remarkable birds; they flew very high, were as large as geese, and all over as white as fnow, except their legs, which were black: I now began to imagine that I had paffed fome land, or iflands, which lay to the fouthward of us; for the last night we obferved, that, although we had generally a great well from that quarter, the water became quite fmooth for a few hours, after which the fwell returned.

On the 22d, being in latitude 20° 52′ S. longitude 115° 38′ W. with a faint breeze at E. S. E. we had fo great a fwell from the fouthward, that we were in per❤ petual danger of our mafts rolling over the fhip's fide, fo that I was obliged to haul more to the northward, as well to cafe the fhip, as in hopes of getting the truc

trade

trade-wind, which we had not yet; and now to my great concern fome of my beft men began to complain of the fcurvy. This day, for the first time, we caught two bonettas; we alfo faw feveral tropic birds about the fhip, and obferved that they were larger than any we had feen before; their whole plumage was white, and they had two long feathers in the tail. The variation now had changed its direction, and was 19' W.

1765. May.

On the 26th, we faw two large birds about the ship, Sund. 26. which were all black, except the neck and the beak, which were white; they had long wings, and long feathers in their tail, yet we obferved that they flew heavily, and therefore imagined that they were of a fpecies which did not usually fly far from the fhore. I had flattered myself, that, before we had run fix degrees to the northward of Mafafuero, we should have found a fettled trade-wind to the S. E. but the winds ftill continued to the north, though we had a mountainous fwell from the S. W, Our latitude was now 16° 55' S. longitude 127° 55′ W. and here the needle, at this time had no variation.

On the 28th, we faw two fine large birds about Tuef. 28. the ship, one of which was brown and white, and the other black and white; they wanted much to fettle upon the yards, but the working of the fhip frighted them.

On the 31st, the wind fhifted from N. by W. to N. Friday 31. W. by W. and the number of birds that were now about the ship was very great; from these circumstances, and our having loft the great fouth-weft fwell, I imagined fome land to be near, and we looked out for it with great diligence, for our people began now to fall down with the fcurvy very faft.

We faw no land however till one o'clock in the June morning of Friday the 7th of June, when we were in Friday 7. lat. 14° 5' S. long. 144° 58' W. and obferved the variation to be 4° 30' E. After making the land, I hauled upon a wind under an easy fail till the morning, and then a low fmall ifland bore from us W. S. W, at the distance of about two leagues. In a very short time we saw another island to windward of us, bearing E. S. E. diftant between three and four leagues : this appeared to be much larger than that which we

1765. June.

first discovered, and we must have paffed very near it in the night.

I flood for the small ifland, which as we drew near it had a most beautiful appearance; it was furrounded by a beach of the finest white fand, and within, it was covered with tall trees, which extended their shade to a great diftance, and formed the moft delightful groves that can be imagined without underwood. We judged this ifland to be about five miles in circumfercnce, and from each end of it we faw a fpit running out into the fea, upon which the furge broke with great fury; there was alfo a great furf all round it. We foon perceived that it was inhabited; for many of the natives appeared upon the beach, with spears in their hands that were at leaft fixteen feet long. They prefently made several large fires, which we fuppofed to be a fignal; for we immediately perceived feveral fires upon the larger ifland that was to windward of us, by which we knew that alfo to be inhabited. I fent the boat with an officer to look for an anchoring place, who, to our great regret and difappointment, returned with an account that he had been all round the island, and that no bottom could be found within less than a cable's length of the shore, which was furrounded close to the beach with a fteep coral rock. The fcurvy by this time had made dreadful havock among us,, many of my best men being now confined to their hammocks; the poor wretches who were able to crawl upon the deck, stood gazing at this little Paradife which Nature had forbidden them to enter, with fenfations which cannot easily be conceived ; they faw cocoa-nuts in great abundance, the milk of which is perhaps the most powerful antifcorbutic in the world they had reafon to fuppofe that there were limes, bananas, and other fruits which are generally found between the tropics; and to increase their mortification they faw the fhells of many turtles fcattered about the fhore. These refreshments, indeed, for want of which they were languishing to death, were as effectually beyond their reach as if there had been half the circumference of the world between them; yet their being in fight, was no confiderable increase of the diftrefs, which they fuffered by the want of them.