sure if they do not sometimes unlace that part of the sail from the yard which is between the tack and mast-head, and so shift both sail and boom leeward of the mast. The drawings which Mr. Hodges made of these vessels seem to favour this supposition, and will not only illustrate, but in a manner make the description of them unnecessary. The out-riggers and ropes used for shrouds &c. are all stout and strong: indeed, the sail, yard, and boom are all together of such an enormous weight, that strength is required.

The summit of Amattafoa was hid in the clouds the whole day, so that we were not able to determine with certainty whether there was a volcano or not; but everything we could see concurred to make us believe there was. This island is about five leagues in circuit: Oghao is not so much, but more round and peaked. They lie in the direction of N.N.W. W. from Anamocka, eleven or twelve leagues distant: they are both inhabited, but neither of them seemed fertile. We were hardly through the passage before we got a fresh breeze at south. That moment, all the natives made haste to be gone, and we steered to the west, all sails set. I had some thoughts of touching at Amsterdam, as it lay not much out of the way; but, as the wind was now, we could not fetch it; and this was the occasion of my laying my design aside altogether.

Let us now return to Anamocka, as it is called by the natives. It is situated in the latitude of 20° 15′ S., longitude 174° 31′ W., and was first discovered by Tasman, and by him named Rotterdam. It is of a triangular form, each side whereof is about three and a half or four miles. A salt-water lake in the middle of it occupies not a little of its surface, and in a manner cuts off the S.E. angle. Round the island, that is, from the N. W. to the S., round by the N. and E., lie scattered a number of small isles, sand-banks, and breakers. We could see no end to their extent to the north; and it is not impossible that they reach as far south as Amsterdam or Tongatabu. These, together with Middleburg, or Eaoowee, and Pylstart, make a group, containing about three degrees of latitude and two of longitude, which I have named the Friendly Isles or Archipelago, as a firm reliance and friendship seems to subsist among their inhabitants, and their courteous behaviour to strangers entitles them to that appellation; under which we might perhaps extend their group much farther, even down to Boscawen and Keppel's Isles, discovered by Captain Wallis, and lying nearly under the same meridian, and in the latitude of 15° 53′; for, from the little account I have had of the people of these two isles, they seem to have the same sort of friendly disposition we observed in our Archipelago.

The inhabitants, productions, &c. of Rotterdam and the neighbouring isles, are the same as at Amsterdam. Hogs and fowls are, indeed, much scarcer; of the former having got but six, and not many of the latter. Yams and shaddocks were what we got the most of; other fruits were not so plenty. Not half the isle is laid out in inclosed plantations as at Amsterdam; but the parts which are not inclosed are not less fertile or uncultivated. There is, however, far more waste land on this isle, in proportion to its size, than upon the other, and the people seem to be much poorer; that is, in cloth, matting, ornaments, &c., which constitute a great part of the riches of the South Sea islanders. The people of this isle seem to be more affected with the leprosy, or some scrofulous disorder, than any I have seen elsewhere. It breaks out in the face more than any other part of the body: I have seen several whose faces were ruined by it, and their noses quite gone. In one of my excursions, happening to peep into a house where one or more of them were, one man only appeared at the door, or hole by which I must have entered, and which he began to stop up, by drawing several parts of a cord across it; but the intolerable stench which came from his putrid face was alone sufficient to keep me out, had the entrance been ever so wide. His nose was quite gone, and his whole face in one continued ulcer, so that the very sight of him was shocking. As our people had not all got clear of a certain disease they had contracted at the Society Isles, I took all possible care to prevent its being communicated to the natives here; and I have reason to believe my endeavours succeeded.

Having mentioned a house, it may not be amiss to observe, that some here differ from those I saw at the other isles; being inclosed or walled on every side with reeds neatly put together, but not close. The entrance is by a square hole about two and a half feet each way. The form of these houses is an oblong square; the floor or foundation every way

shorter than the eve, which is about four feet from the ground. By this construction, the rain that falls on the roof is carried off from the wall; which otherwise would decay and rot. We did not distinguish any king, or leading chief, or any person who took upon him the appearance of supreme authority. The man and woman before mentioned, whom I believed to be man and wife, interested themselves on several occasions in our affairs; but it was easy to see they had no great authority. Amongst other things which I gave them as a reward for their service, was a young dog and bitch, animals which they have not, but are very fond of, and know very well by name. They have some of the same sort of earthen pots we saw at Amsterdam; and I am of opinion they are of their own manufacture, or that of some neighbouring isle.

The road, as I have already mentioned, is on the north side of the isle, just to the southward of the southernmost cove; for there are two on this side. The bank is of some extent, and the bottom free from rocks, with twenty-five and twenty fathoms water, one or two miles from the shore. Fire-wood is very convenient to be got at, and easy to be shipped off; but the water is so brackish that it is not worth the trouble of carrying it on board; unless one is in great distress for want of that article, and can get no better. There is, however, better, not only on this isle, but on others in the neighbourhood; for the people brought us some in cocoa-nut shells, which was as good as need be; but probably the springs are too trifling to water a ship.

I have already observed that the S.W. side of the island is covered by a reef or reefs of rocks and small isles. If there be a sufficient depth of water between them and the island, as there appeared to be, and a good bottom, this would be a much securer place for a ship to anchor in than that where we had our station.

CHAPTER III.-THE PASSAGE FROM THE FRIENDLY ISLES TO THE NEW HEBRIDES; WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY OF TURTLE ISLAND, AND A VARIETY OF INCIDENTS WHICH HAPPENED, BOTH BEFORE AND AFTER THE SHIP ARRIVED IN PORT SANDWICH, IN THE ISLAND OF MALLICOLLO.-A DESCRIPTION OF THE PORT; THE ADJACENT COUNTRY; ITS INHABITANTS, AND MANY OTHER PARTICULARS.

On the 1st of July, at sunrise, Amattafoa was still in sight, bearing E. by N., distant twenty leagues. Continuing our course to the west, we, the next day at noon, discovered land bearing N.W. by W., for which we steered, and, upon a nearer approach, found it to be a small island. At 4 o'clock it bore, from N.W. W. to N.W. by N., and, at the same time, breakers were seen from the mast-head, extending from W. to S.W. The day being too far spent to make farther discoveries, we soon after shortened sail, hauled the wind, and spent the night making short boards, which, at daybreak, we found had been so advantageous, that we were farther from the island than we expected, and it was eleven o'clock before we reached the N.W. or lee side, where anchorage and landing seemed practicable. In order to obtain a knowledge of the former, I sent the master with a boat to sound; and, in the mean time, we stood on and off with the ship. At this time, four or five people were seen on the reef, which lies round the isle, and about three times that number on the shore. As the boat advanced, those on the reef retired, and joined the others; and when the boat landed, they all fled to the woods. It was not long before the boat returned, when the master informed me that there were no soundings without the reef, over which, in one place only, he found a boat-channel of six feet water. Entering by it, he rowed in for the shore, thinking to speak with the people, not more than twenty in number, who were armed with clubs and spears; but the moment he set his foot on shore, they retired to the woods. He left on the rocks some medals, nails, and a knife; which they, no doubt, found, as some were seen near the place afterwards. This island is not quite a league in length, in the direction of N.E. and S.W., and not half that in breadth. It is covered with wood, and surrounded by a reef of coral rocks, which, in some places, extend two miles from the shore. It seems to be too small to contain many inhabitants; and probably the few whom we saw may have come from some isle in the neighbourhood to fish for turtle;

as many were seen near this reef, and occasioned that name to be given to the island, which is situated in latitude 19° 48′ S., longitude 178° 2′ W.

Seeing breakers to the S.S.W., which I was desirous of knowing the extent of before night, I left Turtle Isle, and stood for them. At two o'clock we found they were occasioned by a coral bank of about four or five leagues in circuit. By the bearing we had taken, we knew these to be the same breakers we had seen the preceding evening. Hardly any part of this bank or reef is above water at the reflux of the waves. The heads of some rocks are to be seen near the edge of the reef, where it is the shoalest; for in the middle is deep water. In short, this bank wants only a few little islets to make it exactly like one of the half-drowned isles so often mentioned. It lies S. W. from Turtle Island, about five or six miles, and the channel between it and the reef of that isle is three miles over. Seeing no more shoals or islands, and thinking there might be turtle on this bank, two boats were properly equipped and sent thither, but returned without having seen one.

The boats were now hoisted in, and we made sail to the west, with a brisk gale at east, which continued till the 9th, when we had, for a few hours, a breeze at N.W., attended with squalls of rain. This was succeeded by a steady fresh gale at S.E., with which we steered N. W., being at this time in the latitude of 20° 20′ S., longitude 176° 8'′ E. On the 15th at noon, being in the latitude of 15° 9′ S., longitude 171° 16′ E., I steered W. The next day the weather was foggy, and the wind blew in heavy squalls, attended with rain, which in this ocean, within the tropics, generally indicates the vicinity of some high land. This was verified at three in the afternoon, when high land was seen bearing S. W. Upon this we took in the small sails, reefed the top-sails, and hauling up for it, at half past five, we could see it extend from S.S.W. to N.W. by W. & W. Soon after we tacked and spent the night, which was very stormy, in plying. Our boards were disadvantageous; for, in the morning, we found we had lost ground. This, indeed, was no wonder, for having an old suit of sails bent, the most of them were split to pieces; particularly a fore-top-sail, which was rendered quite useless. We got others to the yards, and continued to ply, being desirous of getting round the south ends of the lands, or at least so far to the south as to be able to judge of their extent in that direction. For no one doubted that this was the Australia del Espiritu Santo of Quiros, which M. de Bougainville calls the Great Cyclades, and that the coast we were now upon was the east side of Aurora Island, whose longitude is 168° 30' E.

The gale kept increasing till we were reduced to our low sails; so that, on the 18th, at seven in the morning, I gave over plying, set the top-sails double-reefed, bore up for, and hauled round the north end of Aurora Island, and then stretched over for the Isle of Lepers, under close-reefed top-sails and courses, with a very hard gale at N.E.; but we had now the advantage of a smooth sea, having the Isle of Aurora to windward. At noon the north end of it bore N.E. & N., distant four leagues; our latitude, found by double altitudes, and reduced to this time, was 15° 1′ 30′′ S., longitude 168° 14' E. At two o'clock P.M. we drew near the middle of the Isle of Lepers, and tacked about two miles from land; in which situation we had no soundings with a line of seventy fathoms. We now saw people on the shore, and many beautiful cascades of water pouring down the neighbouring hills. The next time we stood for this isle, we came to within half-a-mile of it, where we found thirty fathoms, a sandy bottom; but a mile off we had no soundings at seventy fathoms. Here two canoes came off to us, in one of which were three men, and in the other but one. Though we made all the signs of friendship, we could not bring them nearer than a stone's throw; and they made but a short stay before they retired ashore, where we saw a great number of people assembled in parties, and armed with bows and arrows. They are of a very dark colour, and, excepting some ornaments at their breast and arms, seemed to be entirely naked.

As I intended to get to the south, in order to explore the land which might lie there, we continued to ply between the Isle of Lepers and Aurora; and on the 19th, at noon, the south end of the last-mentioned isle bore south 24° east, and the north end north, distant twenty miles. Latitude observed, 15° 11". The wind continued to blow strong at S.E.; so that what we got by plying in the day, we lost in the night. On the 20th, at sunrise,

we found ourselves off the south end of Aurora, on the N.W. side of which the coast forms a small bay. In this we made some trips to try for anchorage; but found no less than eighty fathoms water, the bottom a fine dark sand, at half-a-mile from shore. Nevertheless, I am of opinion that, nearer, there is much less depth, and secure riding; and in the neighbourhood is plenty of fresh water and wood for fuel. The whole isle, from the sea-shore to the summits of the hills, seemed to be covered with the latter; and every valley produced a fine stream of the former. We saw people on the shore, and some canoes on the coast, but none came off to us. Leaving the bay just mentioned, we stretched across the channel which divides Aurora from Whitsuntide island. At noon we were abreast of the north end of this latter, which bore E.N.E., and observed in 15° 28′. The Isle of Aurora bore from N. to N.E. E., and the Isle of Lepers from N. by W. W. to W. Whitsuntide Isle appeared joined to the land to the S. and S.W. of it; but in stretching to S.W. we discovered the separation. This was about four o'clock P.M., and then we tacked and stretched in for the island till near sunset, when the wind veering more to the east made it necessary to resume our course to the south. We saw people on the shore, smokes in many parts of the island, and several places which seemed to be cultivated. About midnight, drawing near the south land, we tacked and stretched to the north, in order to spend the remainder of the night.

At daybreak on the 21st, we found ourselves before the channel that divides Whitsuntide island from the south land, which is about two leagues over. At this time, the land to the southward extended from S. by E. round to the west farther than the eye could reach, and on the part nearest to us, which is of considerable height, we observed two very large columns of smoke, which, I judged, ascended from volcanoes. We now stood S.S.W. with a fine breeze at S.E., and, at ten o'clock, discovered this part of the land to be an island which is called by the natives Ambrym. Soon after an elevated land appeared open off the south end of Ambrym; and after that, another still higher, on which is a high peaked hill. We judged these lands to belong to two separate islands. The first came in sight at S.E., the second at E. by S., and they appeared to be ten leagues distant. Holding on our course for the land ahead, at noon it was five miles distant from us, extending from S.S.E. to N.W. by W., and appeared to be continued. The islands to the east bore from N.E. by E., to S.E. by E.; latitude observed 16° 17' South. As we drew nearer the shore we discovered a creek, which had the appearance of being a good harbour, formed by a low point or peninsula, projecting out to the north. On this a number of people were assembled, who seemed to invite us ashore; probably with no good intent, as the most of them were armed with bows and arrows. In order to gain room and time to hoist out and arm our boats, to reconnoitre this place, we tacked and made a trip off, which occasioned the discovery of another port about a league more to the south. Having sent two armed boats to sound, and look for anchorage, on their making the signal for the latter, we sailed in S.S.W. and anchored in eleven fathoms water, not two cables' length from the S.E. shore, and a mile within the entrance. We had no sooner anchored than several of the natives came off in canoes. They were very cautious at first; but, at last, trusted themselves alongside, and exchanged, for pieces of cloth, arrows; some of which were pointed with bone, and dipped in some green gummy substance, which we naturally suppose was poisonous. Two men having ventured on board, after a short stay I sent them away with presents. Others, probably induced by this, came off by moonlight; but I gave orders to permit none to come alongside; by which means we got clear of them for the night.

Next morning early, a good many came round us, some in canoes, and others swimming. I soon prevailed on one to come on board; which he no sooner did than he was followed by more than I desired; so that not only our deck but rigging was presently filled with them. I took four into the cabin, and gave them various articles, which they showed to those in the canoes, and seemed much pleased with their reception. While I was thus making friends with those in the cabin, an accident happened that threw all into confusion, but in the end, I believe, proved advantageous to us. A fellow in a canoe having been refused admittance into one of our boats that lay alongside, bent his bow to shoot a poisoned arrow at the boatkeeper. Some of his countrymen prevented his doing it that instant, and gave time to

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acquaint me with it. I ran instantly on deck, and saw another man struggling with him ; one of those who had been in the cabin, and had leaped out of the window for this purpose. The other seemed resolved, shook him off, and directed his bow again to the boat-keeper; but on my calling to him, pointed it at me. Having a musket in my hand, loaded with small-shot, I gave him the contents. This staggered him for a moment, but did not prevent him from holding his bow still in the attitude of shooting. Another discharge of the same nature made him drop it, and the others, who were in the canoe, to paddle off with all speed. At this time, some began to shoot arrows on the other side. A musket discharged in the air had no effect; but a four-pound shot over their heads sent them off in the utmost confusion. Many quitted their canoes and swam on shore: those in the great cabin leaped out of the windows; and those who were on the deck, and on different parts of the rigging, all leaped overboard. After this we took no farther notice of them, but suffered them to come off and pick up their canoes; and some even ventured again alongside the ship. Immediately after the great gun was fired, we heard the beating of drums on shore; which was, probably, the signal for the country to assemble in arms. We now got everything in readiness to land, to cut some wood, of which we were in want, and to try to get some refreshments, nothing of this kind having been seen in any of the canoes.

About nine o'clock, we put off in two boats, and landed in the face of four or five hundred people, who were assembled on the shore. Though they were all armed with bows and arrows, clubs and spears, they made not the least opposition. On the contrary, seeing me advance alone, with nothing but a green branch in my hand, one of them, who seemed to be a chief, giving his bow and arrows to another, met me in the water, bearing also a green branch, which having exchanged for the one I held, he then took me by the hand, and led me up to the crowd. I immediately distributed presents to them, and, in the mean time, the marines were drawn up on the beach. I then made signs (for we understood not a word of their language) that we wanted wood; and they made signs to us to cut down the trees. By this time, a small pig being brought down and presented to me, I gave the bearer a piece of cloth, with which he seemed well pleased. This made us hope that we should soon have some more; but we were mistaken. The pig was not brought to be exchanged for what we had, but on some other account; probably as a peace-offering. For all we could say or do did not prevail on them to bring down, after this, above half-a-dozen cocoa-nuts, and a small quantity of fresh water. They set no value on nails, or any sort of iron tools; nor indeed on anything we had. They would, now and then, exchange an arrow for a piece of cloth; but very seldom would part with a bow. They were unwilling we should go off the beach, and very desirous we should return on board. At length, about noon, after sending what wood we had cut on board, we embarked ourselves; and they all retired, some one way and some another.

Before we had dined, the afternoon was too far spent to do anything on shore; and all hands were employed, setting up the rigging, and repairing some defects in it. But seeing a man bring along the strand a buoy, which they had taken in the night from the kedgeanchor, I went on shore for it, accompanied by some of the gentlemen. The moment we landed, it was put into the boat by a man who walked off again without speaking one word. It ought to be observed, that this was the only thing they took, or even attempted to take from us, by any means whatever. Being landed near some of their plantations and houses, which were just within the skirts of the woods, I prevailed on one man to conduct me to them; but, though they suffered Mr. Forster to go with me, they were unwilling any more should follow. These houses were something like those of the other isles; rather low, and covered with palm thatch; some were inclosed, or walled round with boards; and the entrance to these was by a square hole at one end, which at this time was shut up, and they were unwilling to open it for us to look in. There were here about six houses, and some small plantations of roots, &c. fenced round with reeds as at the Friendly Isles. There were, likewise, some bread-fruit, cocoa-nut, and plantain trees; but very little fruit on any of them. A good many fine yams were piled up upon sticks, or a kind of raised platform; and about twenty pigs, and a few fowls, were running about loose. After making these observations, having embarked, we proceeded to the S.E. point of the harbour, where we again landed