Feb, 

 1826 



250 VOYAGE TO THE 



chap. Prince William-Henry being so remote from any 

 — H of Wallis's discoveries, as placed by himself, has 

 made Captain Duperrey think the one which he 

 saw could not possibly be one of them, and he in 

 consequence bestowed upon it the new name of 

 L'Ostange. 



There can be no doubt that the island which I 

 consider Prince William-Henry Island is the L'Os- 

 tange of Captain Duperrey, as we had an opportu- 

 nity of comparing longitudes with him at Moller 

 Island ; and it is equally certain that this island is 

 the same with that discovered by Wallis, as its dis- 

 tance from Queen Charlotte's Island and his other 

 discoveries to the eastward, each of which we visited, 

 exactly coincides. Wallis has certainly erred ten 

 miles in latitude, but it should be recollected that 

 the position of the island was fixed by reckoning 

 from noon, the island having been seen at daybreak 

 " far to windward ;" and it should not be overlooked 

 that his latitude at Cumberland Island the day be- 

 fore was eight miles in error the same way, which 

 makes it very probable that either his observations 

 were indifferent, or that he had incorrect tables of 

 declination. 



In forming this conclusion, I am aware that I am 

 depriving Captain Duperrey of the merit of a dis- 

 covery, but he will, it is hoped, admit the justice of 

 my opinion. 



All the islands seen by Cook, Wallis, and Car- 

 teret, lying within the limit of our survey, have 

 been found to be accurately described, excepting 

 that their size has always been overrated ; a mistake 

 very likely to arise with low strips of land deficient 

 in familiar objects to direct the judgment where 

 actual measurement is not resorted to. 



