1777' THE pacific OCEAN. 281 



supply of water, and of grass, at any of the islands 

 we had lately visited, it was my purpose to have 

 stood back to the south, till I had met with a west- 

 erly wind. But the certain consequence of doing 

 this without such a supply, would have been the loss 

 of all the cattle, before we could possibly reach 

 Otaheite, without gaining any one advantage with 

 regard to the great object of our voyage. 



I therefore determined to bear away for the 

 Friendly Islands, where I was sure of meeting with 

 abundance of every thing I wanted, and it being 

 necessary to run in the night as well as in the day, 

 I ordered Captain Clerke to keep about a league 

 ahead of the Resolution. I used this precaution, 

 because his ship could best claw off the land, and 

 it was very possible we might fall in with some, in 

 our passage. 



The longitude of Hervey's Island, when first 

 discovered, deduced from Otaheite, by the time- 

 keeper, was found to be 201 6' E., and now, by the 

 same time-keeper, deduced from Queen Charlotte's 

 Sound, 200 56' E. Hence I conclude, that the 

 error of the time-keeper at this time, did not exceed 

 twelve miles in longitude. 



When we bore away I steered west by south, with 

 a fine breeze easterly. I proposed to proceed first 

 to Middleburgh, or Eooa, thinking, if the wind con- 

 tinued favourable, that we had food enough on 

 board for the cattle, to last till we should reach that 

 island. But about noon next day, those faint 

 breezes, that had attended and retarded us so long, 

 again returned, and I found it necessary to haul 

 more to the north, to get into the latitude of Pal- 

 merston's and Savage Islands, discovered in 1774, 

 during my last voyage *, that if necessity required it, 

 we might have recourse to them. 



* See Vol. IV. p. 2. 5. 



