140 VOYAGE TO THE 



CH ^ P * surf rolled so furiously upon the shore as to occa- 

 ^-^y— «* sion much anxiety about rescuing them. At last a 

 1825 small raft was constructed, and Lieutenant Wain- 

 wright finding no other means of getting a line to 

 them, boldly jumped overboard, with a lead-line in 

 his hand, and suffered himself to be thrown upon 

 the reef. By this contrivance all the people were 

 got off, one by one, though severely bruised and 

 wounded by the coral and spines of the echini. 



Mr. Belcher had here another escape, by being 

 washed off the raft, his trousers getting entangled in 

 the coral at the bottom of a deep chasm. Fortu- 

 nately they gave way, and he rose to the surface, 

 and by great effort swam through the breakers. 

 Lieutenant Wainwright was the last that was hauled 

 off. To this young officer the greatest praise is due 

 for his bravery and exertions throughout. But for 

 his resolution, it is very doubtful whether the party 

 would have been relieved from their perilous situ- 

 ation, as the tide was rising, and the surf upon the 

 reef momentarily increasing. In the evening we 

 made sail to the westward, and on the 27th saw 

 Crescent Island ; and shortly afterwards the high 

 land of Gambier's groupe. 



Both these islands were discovered by Mr. Wilson 

 during a missionary voyage, but he had no com- 

 munication with the natives. The first was so 

 named in consequence of its supposed form ; but in 

 fact it more nearly resembles an oblong. It is exactly 

 three miles and a half in length, and one and a half 

 in width, and of similar formation to Oeno and 

 Ducie's Islands. It consists of a strip of coral about 

 a hundred yards or less in width, having the sea on 

 one side and a lagoon on the other. Its general 



