PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 199 



angles ; but there are no human beings upon it at C yfj P ' 

 present, which indeed we conjectured to be the case ^-^y— 

 before our boats made the circuit of it, from the 18 26. 

 number of sea birds in its vicinity, and also from 

 the shoals of sharks which followed the boats, and 

 even bit at the oars ; for these animals, like most 

 others, seem to have learned by experience to avoid 

 the haunts of man. The only living thing seen 

 upon the shore was a grey heron gorging itself with 

 black star-fish. 



Lord Hood's Island was discovered by Mr. 

 Wilson in the Missionary ship Duff; it is 11*2 

 miles in length, and 4*7 miles in width, in a north 

 and south direction; and like almost all the coral 

 islands it contains a lagoon, and is steep on all its 

 sides. 



After quitting it, we looked in vain, the next 

 day, for an island which Mr. Wilson supposed he 

 saw; but not finding it in or near the situation 

 assigned, and he being himself doubtful whether it 

 might not have been a cloud, I did not bestow 

 longer time in the search, but steered for the island 

 of Clermont Tonnere, which was seen on the 18th. 

 This island bore a very close resemblance to Hood's 

 Island, but was inhabited, and clothed with cocoa- 

 nut trees. The sea broke so heavily upon all parts 

 of the shore that there was no possibility of landing 

 in our boats ; yet the natives put off in their canoes 

 and paddled to us. They were a very inferior race 

 to those of the Gambier Islands, and seemed more 

 nearly allied in feature to those of Mangea and New 

 Caledonia ; yet here also there was among them a 

 great diversity of complexion. In one of the canoes 

 there was a man nearly as dark as an African negro, 



