found here the tree which is covered with a soft white ragged bark, easily peeled off, and is, as I have been told, the same that in the East Indies is used for caulking of ships. The wood is very hard; the leaves are long and narrow, of a pale dead green and a fine aromatic; so that it may properly be said to belong to that continent. Nevertheless, here are several plants, &c., common to the eastern and northern islands, and even a species of the passionflower, which, I am told, has never before been known to grow wild anywhere but in America. Our botanists did not complain for want of employment at this place; every day bringing something new in botany or other branches of natural history. Land-birds, indeed, are not numerous, but several are new. One of these is a kind of crow-at least, so we called it, though it is not half so big, and its feathers are tinged with blue. They also have some very beautiful turtle-doves, and other small birds, such as I never saw before.

All our endeavours to get the name of the whole island proved ineffectual. Probably, it is too large for them to know by one name. Whenever we made this inquiry, they always gave us the name of some district or place, which we pointed to; and, as before observed, I got the names of several, with the name of the king or chief of each. Hence, I conclude that the country is divided into several districts, each governed by a chief; but we know nothing of the extent of his power. Balade was the name of the district we were at, and Tea Booma the chief. He lived on the other side of the ridge of hills, so that we had but little of his company, and therefore could not see much of his power. Tea seems a title prefixed to the names of all or most of their chiefs or great men. My friend honoured me by calling me Tea Cook.

They deposit their dead in the ground. I saw none of their burying-places; but several of the gentlemen did. In one, they were informed, lay the remains of a chief, who was slain in battle; and his grave, which bore some resemblance to a large mole-hill, was decorated with spears, darts, paddles, &c., all stuck upright in the ground round about it. The canoes which these people use are somewhat like those of the Friendly Isles, but the most heavy, clumsy vessels I ever saw. They are what I call double canoes, made out of two large trees hollowed out, having a raised gunnel about two inches high, and closed at each end with a kind of bulk-head of the same height; so that the whole is like a long square trough, about three feet shorter than the body of the canoe; that is, a foot and a half at each end. Two canoes, thus fitted, are secured to each other, about three feet asunder, by means of cross spars, which project about a foot over each side. Over these spars is laid a deck or very heavy platform, made of plank and small round spars, on which they have a fire-hearth, and generally a fire burning; and they carry a pot or jar to dress their victuals in. The space between the two canoes is laid with plank, and the rest with spars. On one side of the deck, and close to the edge, is fixed a row of knees, pretty near to each other, the use of which is to keep the mast, yards, &c. from rolling overboard. They are navigated by one or two latteen sails, extended to a small latteen yard, the end of which fixes in a notch or hole in the deck. The foot of the sail is extended to a small boom. The sail is composed of pieces of matting; the ropes are made of the coarse filaments of the plantain-tree, twisted into cords of the thickness of a finger; and three or four more such cords, marled together, serve them for shrouds, &c. I thought they sailed very well; but they are not at all calculated for rowing or paddling. Their method of proceeding, when they cannot sail, is by sculling; and for this purpose there are holes in the boarded deck or platform. Through these they put the sculls, which are of such a length, that, when the blade is in the water, the loom or handle is four or five feet above the deck. The man who works it stands behind, and with both his hands sculls the vessel forward. This method of proceeding is very slow, and for this reason the canoes are but ill calculated for fishing, especially for striking of turtle, which, I think, çan hardly ever be done in them. Their fishing implements, such as I have seen, are turtle-nets, made, I believe, of the filaments of the plantain-tree twisted; and small hand-nets with very minute meshes made of fine twine, and fish-gigs. Their general method of fishing, I guess, is to lie on the reefs in shoal water, and to strike the fish that may come in their way. They may, however, have other methods, which we had no opportunity to see, as no boat went out while we were here, all their time and attention being taken up with us. Their canoes are about thirty feet long,

and the deck or platform about twenty-four in length, and ten in breadth. We had not, at this time, seen any timber in the country so large as that of which their canoes were made, It was observed, that the holes made in the several parts, in order to sew them together. were burnt through, but with what instrument we never learnt; most probably it was of stone; which may be the reason why they were so fond of large spikes, seeing at once they would answer this purpose. I was convinced they were not wholly designed for edge-tools; because every one showed a desire for the iron belaying pins which were fixed in the quarterdeck rail, and seemed to value them far more than a spike-nail, although it might be twice as big. These pins, which are round, perhaps have the very shape of the tool they wanted to make of the nails. I did not find that a hatchet was quite so valuable as a large spike. Small nails were of little or no value; and beads, looking-glasses, &c., they did not admire.

The women of this country, and likewise those of Tanna, are, so far as I could judge, far more chaste than those of the more eastern islands. I never heard that one of our people obtained the least favour from any one of them. I have been told, that the ladies here would frequently divert themselves, by going a little aside with our gentlemen, as if they meant to be kind to them, and then would run away laughing at them. Whether this was chastity or coquetry, I shall not pretend to determine; nor is it material, since the consequences

were the same.

CHAPTER X.-PROCEEDINGS ON THE COAST OF NEW CALEDONIA, WITH GEOGRAPHICAL AND NAUTICAL OBSERVATIONS.

At noon

EVERYTHING being in readiness to put to sea, at sunrise, on the 13th of September, we weighed, and with a fine gale at E. by S., stood out for the same channel we came in by. At half-past seven we were in the middle of it. Observatory Isle bore S. 5° E., distant four miles, and the Isle of Balabea W.N.W. As soon as we were clear of the reef, we hauled the wind on the starboard tack, with a view of plying in to the S.E.; but as Mr. Gilbert was of opinion that he had seen the end or N.W. extremity of the land, and that it would be easier to get round by the N.W., I gave over plying, and bore up along the outside of the reef, steering N.N.W., N.W., and N.W. by W. as it trended. the island of Balabea bore S. by W., distant thirteen miles; and what we judged to be the west end of the great land, bore S. W. S.; and the direction of the reef was N.W. by W.; latitude observed, 19° 53′ 20′′. Longitude from Observatory Isle, 14' W. We continued to steer N.W. by W. along the outside of the reef till three o'clock, at which time the Isle of Balabea bore S. by E. E. In this direction we observed a partition in the reef, which we judged to be a channel, by the strong tide which set out of it. From this place the reef inclined to the north, for three or four leagues, and then to N.W. We followed its direction, and as we advanced to N.W., raised more land, which seemed to be connected with what we had seen before; so that Mr. Gilbert was mistaken, and did not see the extremity of the coast. At five o'clock this land bore W. by N. N., distant twenty miles; but what we could see of the reef trended in the direction of N.W. by N.

Having hauled the wind on the starboard tack, and spent the night plying, on the 14th, at sunrise, the island of Balabea bore S. 6° E., and the land seen the preceding night west; but the reef still trended N. W., along which we steered with a light breeze at E.S.E. At noon we observed in latitude 19° 28', longitude from Observatory Isle 27′ W. We had now no sight of Balabea; and the other land, that is, the N.W. part of it, bore W. by S. S.; but we were not sure if this was one continued coast, or separate islands. For though some partitions were seen, from space to space, which made it look like the latter, a multitude of shoals rendered a nearer approach to it exceedingly dangerous, if not impracticable. In the afternoon, with a fine breeze at E.S.E., we ranged the outside of these shoals, which we found to trend in the direction of N.W. by W., N.W. by N., and N.N.E. At three o'clock we passed a low sandy isle, lying on the outer edge of the reef, in latitude 19o 25', and in the direction of N.E. from the north-westernmost land, six or seven leagues distant. So much as we could see of this space was strewed with shoals, seemingly detached

from each other; and the channel leading in amongst them appeared to be on the S.E. side of the sandy isle; at least there was a space where the sea did not break. At sunset, we could but just see the land, which bore S. W. by S., about ten leagues distant. A clear horizon produced the discovery of no land to the westward of this direction; the reef, too, trended away W. by N. N., and seemed to terminate in a point which was seen from the mast-head. Thus everything conspired to make us believe that we should soon get round these shoals; and with these flattering expectations we hauled the wind, which was at E.N.E., and spent the night making short boards.

Next morning, at sunrise, seeing neither land nor breakers, we bore away N.W. by W., and two hours after saw the reef extending N.W. farther than the eye could reach; but no land was to be seen. It was therefore probable that we had passed its N.W. extremity; and, as we had seen from the hills of Balade its extent to the S.W., it was necessary to know how far it extended to the E. or S.E., while it was in our power to recover the coast. For, by following the direction of the shoals, we might have been carried so far to leeward as not to be able to beat back without considerable loss of time. We were already far out of sight of land; and there was no knowing how much farther we might be carried, before we found an end to them. These considerations, together with the risk we must run in exploring a sea strewed with shoals, and where no anchorage, without them, is to be found, induced me to abandon the design of proceeding round by the N.W., and to ply up to the S.E., in which direction I knew there was a clear sea. With this view, we tacked and stood to the S.E., with the wind at N.E. by E., a gentle breeze. At this time we were in the latitude of 19° 7 S., longitude 163° 57′ E.

In standing to S.E. we did but just weather the point of the reef we had passed the preceding evening. To make our situation the more dangerous, the wind began to fail us; and at three in the afternoon it fell calm, and left us to the mercy of a great swell, setting directly on the reef, which was hardly a league from us. We sounded, but found no bottom, with a line of 200 fathoms. I ordered the pinnace and cutter to be hoisted out to tow the ship; but they were of little use against so great a swell. We, however, found that the ship did not draw near the reef so fast as might be expected; and at seven o'clock, a light air at N.N.E. kept her head to the sea; but it lasted no longer than midnight, when it was succeeded by a dead calm. At daybreak, on the 16th, we had no sight of the reef; and at eleven, a breeze springing up at S.S.W., we hoisted in the boats, and made sail to S.E. At noon we observed in 19° 35′ south, which was considerably more to the south than we expected, and showed that a current or tide had been in our favour all night, and accounted for our getting so unexpectedly clear of the shoals. At two o'clock P.M. we had again a calm, which lasted till nine, when it was succeeded by a light air from E.N.E. and E., with which we advanced but slowly.

On the 17th, at noon, we observed in latitude 19° 54′, when the Isle of Balabea bore S. 60° W., ten and a half leagues distant. We continued to ply, with variable light winds, between N.E. and S.E., without meeting with anything remarkable till the 20th at noon, when Cape Colnet bore N. 78° W., distant six leagues. From this cape the land extended round by the south to E.S.E. till it was lost in the horizon; and the country appeared with many hills and valleys. Latitude observed 20° 41', longitude made from Observatory Isle 1° 8' E. We stood in-shore with a light breeze at east till sunset, when we were between two and three leagues off. The coast extended from S. 42o E. to N. 59° W. Two small islets lay without this last direction, distant from us four or five miles; some others lay between us and the shore, and to the east, where they seemed to be connected by reefs, in which appeared some openings from space to space. The country was mountainous, and had much the same aspect as about Balade. On one of the western small isles was an elevation like a tower ; and, over a low neck of land within the isle, were seen many other elevations resembling the masts of a fleet of ships. Next day, at sunrise, after having stood off all night with a light breeze at S.E., we found ourselves about six leagues from the coast; and in this situation we were kept by a calm till ten in the evening, when we got a faint landbreeze at S. W., with which we steered S. E. all night.

On the 22d, at sunrise, the land was clouded; but it was not long before the clouds went

off, and we found, by our land-marks, that we had made a good advance. At ten o'clock, the land-breeze being succeeded by a sea-breeze at E. by S., this enabled us to stand in for the land, which at noon extended from N. 78° W. to S. 314° E. round by the south. In this last direction the coast seemed to trend more to the south in a lofty promontory, which, on account of the day, received the name of Cape Coronation. Latitude 22o 2', longitude 167° 7 E. Some breakers lay between us and the shore, and probably they were connected with those we had seen before. During the night we had advanced about two leagues to S.E.; and at daybreak, on the 23d, an elevated point appeared in sight beyond Cape Coronation, bearing S. 23° E. It proved to be the S.E. extremity of the coast, and obtained the name of Queen Charlotte's Foreland. Latitude 22° 16′ S., longitude 167° 14′ E. About noon, having got a breeze from the N.E., we stood to S.S.E., and, as we drew towards Cape Coronation, saw, in a valley to the south of it, a vast number of those elevated objects before mentioned; and some low land under the Foreland was wholly covered with them. We could not agree in our opinions of what they were. I supposed them to be a singular sort of trees, being too numerous to resemble anything else; and a great deal of smoke kept rising all the day from amongst those near the Cape. Our philosophers were of opinion that this was the smoke of some internal and perpetual fire. My representing to them that there was no smoke here in the morning, would have been of no avail, had not this eternal fire gone out before night, and no more smoke been seen after. They were still more positive that the elevations were pillars of basaltes, like those which compose the Giant's Causeway in Ireland. At sunset, the wind veering round to the south, we tacked and stood off, it not being safe to approach the shore in the dark. At daybreak we stood in again, with a faint land-breeze between E.S.E. and S.S.E. At noon observed in latitude 21° 59′ 30′′, Cape Coronation bearing west southerly, distant seven leagues, and the Foreland S. 38° west. As we advanced to S.S.W. the coast beyond the Foreland began to appear in sight; and, at sunset, we discovered a low island lying S.S.E., about seven miles from the Foreland. It was one of those which are generally surrounded with shoals and breakers. At the same time a round hill was seen bearing S. 24° E., twelve leagues distant. During night, having had variable light winds, we advanced but little either way.

On the 25th, about ten o'clock A.M., having got a fair breeze at E.S.E., we stood to S.S.W., in hopes of getting round the Foreland; but, as we drew near, we perceived more low isles beyond the one already mentioned, which at last appeared to be connected by breakers, extending towards the Foreland, and seeming to join the shore. We stood on till half-past three o'clock, when we saw, from the deck, rocks just peeping above the surface of the sea, on the shoal above mentioned. It was now time to alter the course, as the day was too far spent to look for a passage near the shore, and we could find no bottom to anchor in during the night. We, therefore, stood to the south, to look for a passage without the small isles. We had a fine breeze at E.S.E., but it lasted no longer than five o'clock, when it fell to a dead calm. Having sounded, a line of 170 fathoms did not reach the bottom, though we were but a little way from the shoals, which, instead of following the coast to S.W., took a S.E. direction towards the hill we had seen the preceding evening, and seemed to point out to us that it was necessary to go round that land. At this time the most advanced point on the main bore S. 68° W., distant nine or ten leagues. About seven o'clock we got a light breeze at north, which enabled us to steer out E.S.E., and to spend the night with less anxiety. On some of the low isles were many of those elevations already mentioned. Every one was now satisfied they were trecs, except our philosophers, who still maintained that they were basaltes.

About daybreak, on the 26th, the wind having shifted to S.S. W., we stretched to S.E. for the hill before mentioned. It belonged to an island, which at noon extended from S. 16° E. to S. 7° W., distant six leagues. Latitude observed 22° 16′ South. In the P.M. the wind freshened, and, veering to S.S.E., we stretched to the east till two A.M. on the 27th, when we tacked and stood to S.W. with hopes of weathering the island; but we fell about two miles short of our expectations, and had to tack about a mile from the east side of the island, the extremes bearing from N.W. by N. to S. W., the hill W., and some low isles, lying off the S.E. point, S. by W. These seemed to be connected with the large island by breakers.

We sounded when in stays, but had no ground with a line of eighty fathoms. The skirts of this is land were covered with the elevations more than once mentioned. They had much the appearance of tall pines, which occasioned my giving that name to the island. The round hill, which is on the S.W. side, is of such a height as to be seen fourteen or sixteen leagues. The island is about a mile in circuit, and situated in latitude 22° 38′ S., longitude 167° 40′ East. Having made two attempts to weather the Isle of Pines before sunset, with no better success than before, this determined me to stretch off till midnight. This day, at noon, the thermometer was at 6830, which is lower than it had been since the 27th of February.

Having tacked at midnight, assisted by the currents, and a fresh gale at E.S.E. and S.E., next morning, at daybreak, we found ourselves several leagues to windward of the Isle of Pines, and bore away large, round the S.E. and south sides. The coast from the S.E., round by the south to the west, was strewed with sandbanks, breakers, and small low isles, most of which were covered with the same lofty trees that ornamented the borders of the greater one. We continued to range the outside of these small isles and breakers, at threefourths of a league distance, and as we passed, one raised another; so that they seemed to form a chain extending to the isles which lie off the Foreland. At noon we observed, in latitude 22° 41′ 36′′ S., the Isle of Pines, extending from N. by E. 1⁄2 E. to E. by N., and Cape Coronation N. 32° 30′ W., distant seventeen leagues. In the afternoon, with a fine gale at E., we steered N. W. by W. along the outside of the shoals, with a view of falling in with the land a little to S.W. of the Foreland. At two o'clock P.M., two low islets were seen bearing W. by S.; and as they were connected by breakers, which seemed to join those on our starboard, this discovery made it necessary to haul off S. W. in order to get clear of them all. At three, more breakers appeared, extending from the low isles towards the S.E. We now hauled out close to the wind, and in an hour and a half were almost on board the breakers, and obliged to tack. From the mast-head they were seen to extend as far as E.S.E., and the smoothness of the sea made it probable that they extended to the north of east, and that we were in a manner surrounded by them. At this time the hill on the Isle of Pines bore N. 710 E., the Foreland N. W., and the most advanced point of land on the S.W. coast bore N.W., distant fifteen or sixteen leagues. This direction of the S.W. coast, which was rather within the parallel of the N.E., assured us that this land extended no farther to the S.W. After making a short trip to N.N.E., we stood again to the south, in expectation of having a better view of the shoals before sunset. We gained nothing by this but the prospect of a sea strewed with shoals, which we could not clear but by returning in the track by which we came. We tacked nearly in the same place where we had tacked before, and on sounding found a bottom of fine sand. But anchoring in a strong gale, with a chain of breakers to leeward, being the last resource, I rather chose to spend the night in making short boards over that space we had, in some measure, made ourselves acquainted with in the day. And thus it was spent ; but under the terrible apprehension, every moment, of falling on some of the many dangers which surrounded us.

Daylight showed that our fears were not ill-founded, and that we had been in the most imminent danger, having had breakers continually under our lee, and at a very little distance from us. We owed our safety to the interposition of Providence, a good look-out, and the very brisk manner in which the ship was managed; for, as we were standing to the north, the people on the lee gangway and forecastle saw breakers under the lee-bow, which we escaped by quickly tacking the ship. I was now almost tired of a coast which I could no longer explore but at the risk of losing the ship and ruining the whole voyage. I was, however, determined not to leave it till I knew what trees those were which had been the subject of our speculation; especially as they appeared to be of a sort useful to shipping, and had not been seen anywhere but in the southern part of this land. With this view, after making a trip to the south, to weather the shoals under our lee, we stood to the north, in hopes of finding anchorage under some of the islets on which these trees grew. We were stopped by eight o'clock by the shoals which lie extended between the Isle of Pines and Queen Charlotte's Foreland, and found soundings off them in fifty-five, forty, and thirty-six fathoms, a fine sandy bottom. The nearer we came to these shoals, the more we saw of them, and we were not able to say if there was any passage between the two lands.