ty, and foon exhaufted. The hardships they suffered, while driven along by the storm, are not to be conceived. They paffed many days without fuftenance. Their numbers gradually diminished, worn out by famine and fatigue. Four only furvived, when the canoe overfet. However, they kept hanging by the fide of the veffel, till Providence brought them in fight of the people of this ifland, who immediately fent out canoes, and brought them afhore. Of the four, one was fince dead. The other three ftill living, fpoke highly of the kind treatment they here met with. And fo well fatisfied were they with their fituation, that they refused the offer made to them by our gentlemen, at Omai's request, of giving them a paffage on board our fhips, to restore them to their native iflands.

The landing of our gentlemen on this ifland, though they failed in the object of it, cannot but be confidered as a very fortunate circumftance. It has proved, as we have seen, the means of bringing to our knowledge a matter of fact, not only very curious, but very inftructive. The application of the above narrative is obvious. It will ferve to explain, better than a thousand conjectures of fpeculative reafoners, how the detached parts of the earth, and in particular how the iflands of the South Seas may have been first peopled; especially thofe that lie remote from any inhabited continent, or from each other.

With a gentle breeze at eaft, we got up with Wateeoo on the 3d of April, and I immediately difpatched Mr. Gore, with two boats, to endeavour to procure fome food for our cattle. As there feemed to be no inhabitants here to obftru&t our

taking away whatever we might think proper, our boats no fooner reached the weft fide of the ifland, but they ventured in, and Mr. Gore and his party got fafe on fhore.

The fupply obtained here, confifted of about a hundred cocoa-nuts for each ship; we also got for our cattle fome grafs, and a quantity of the leaves and branches of young cocoa-trees, and of the wharra trec, as it is called at Otaheite.

The only birds feen here, were a beautiful cuckoo, of a chefnut brown, variegated with black, which was shot. And upon the fhore, some eggbirds; a fmall fort of curlew; blue and white herons; and great numbers of noddies.

One of our people caught a lizard, of a most forbidding aspect, though fmall, running up a tree; and many of another fort were seen.

Though there were, at this time, no fixed inhabitants upon the island, indubitable marks remained of its being, at leaft, occafionally frequented. In particular, a few empty huts were found. In one of them, Mr. Gore left a hatchet and fome nails, to the full value of what we took away.

As foon as the boats were hoisted in, I made fail again to the northward. Although Hervey's Ifland, difcovered in 1773, was not above fifteen leagues diftant, yet we did not get fight of it till day-break in the morning. As we drew near it, we obferved several canoes put off towards the fhips. There were from three to fix men in each of them. They stopped at the distance of about a ftone's throw from the thip; and it was fome time before Omai could prevail upon them to come along-fide; but no entreaties could induce

any

Indeed, their

any of them to venture on board. diforderly and clamorous behaviour, by no means indicated a difpofition to trust us, or treat us well. We afterwards learnt, that they had attempted to take fome oars out of the Discovery's boat that lay along-fide, and ftruck a man who endeavoured to prevent them. They alfo cut away, with a fhell, a net with meat, which hung over that fhip's ftern, and abfolutely refused to restore it; though we afterwards purchased it of them. Thole who were about our ship, behaved in the fame daring manner. At the fame time, they immediately fhewed a knowledge of bartering, and fold fome fish they had for fmall nails, of which they were immoderately fond, and called them goore. But they caught, with the greatest avidity, bits of paper, or any thing else that was thrown to them.

These people feemed to differ as much in perfon, as in difpofition, from the natives of Wateeoo; though the diftance between the two islands is not very great. Their colour was of a deeper caft; and several had a fierce, rugged afpect, refembling the natives of New Zealand. The fhell of a pearl-oyfter, polished, hung about the neck, was the only perfonal decoration that we obferved amongst them; for not one of them had adopted that mode of ornament, fo generally prevalent amongst the natives of this occan, of puncturing, or tatooing, their bodies.

Though fingular in this, we had the most unequivocal proofs of their being of the fame common race. Their language approached ftill nearer to the dialect of Otaheite than that of Watecoo or Mangeea.

-E 3

Having

Having but very little wind, it was one o'clock before we drew near the north-weft part of the island; when I fent Lieutenant King, with two armed boats to found and reconnoitre the coaft, while we ftood off and on with the ships.

At three o'clock, the boats returned; and Mr. King informed me, “that there was no anchorage for the fhips; and that the boats could only land on the outer edge of the reef, which lay about a quarter of a mile from the dry land. He faid, that a number of the natives came down upon the reef, armed with long pikes and clubs. But, as he had no motive to land, he did not give them an opportunity to use them."

If I had been fo fortunate as to have procured a fupply of water, and of grafs, at any of the iflands we had lately vifited, it was my purpose to have stood back to the fouth, till I had met with a wefterly wind. But the certain confequence of doing this, without fuch a fupply, would have been the loss of all the cattle, before we could poffibly reach Otaheite, without gaining one advantage, with regard to the great object of our voyage. I therefore determined to bear away for the Friendly Islands, where I was fure of meeting with abundance of every thing I wanted.

April the 7th, I fteered weft by fouth, with a fine breeze efterly. I proposed to proceed firft to Middleburgh, or Eooa; thinking, if the wind continued favourable, that we had food enough on board for the cattle, to laft till we fhould reach that ifland. But, about noon, next day, thofe faint breezes, that had attended and retarded us fo long, again returned; and I found it neceffary

ceffary to haul more to the north, to get into the latitude of Palmerstone's and Savage Iflands, difcovered in 1774, during my laft voyage; that if neceffity required it, we might have recourse to them.

At length, at day-break, on the 13th, we faw Palmerstone Island, distant about five leagues. However, we did not get up with it, till eight o'clock the next morning. I then fent four boats, with an officer in each, to fearch the coaft for the moft convenient landing place.

The boats first examined the fouth easternmost part, and failing there, ran down to the east, where we had the fatisfaction to fee them land. This place is not inhabited.

About one o'clock, one of the boats came on board, laden with fcurvy-grafs and young cocoanut trees; which at this time, was a feaft for the cattle. Before evening, I went afhore in a small boat, accompanied by Captain Clerke.

We found every body hard at work, and the landing place to be in a small creek. Upon the bufhes that front the fea, or even farther in, we found a great number of men of war birds, tropic birds, and two forts of boobies, which, at this time, were laying their eggs, and fo tame, that they fuffered us to take them off with our hands. At one part of the reef, which looks into, or bounds, the lake that is within, there was a large bed of coral, almost even with the furface, which afforded, perhaps, one of the most enchanting profpects that Nature has any where produced. Its base was fixed to the shore, but reached so far in, that it could not be feen; fo that it feemed to te fufpended in the water, which deepened fo fuddenly,