1769. ROUND THE WORLD. 79 



thirty fathom ; and, as it is dark ahnost instantly 

 after sunset in these latitudes, we suddenly lost sight 

 of the land, and making sail again, before the line 

 was well hauled in, we steered by the sound of the 

 breakers, which were distinctly heard till we got clear 

 of the coast. 



We knew this island to be inhabited, by smoke 

 which we saw in different parts of it, and we gave it 

 the name of Bow Island. Mr. Gore, my second 

 lieutenant, said, after we had sailed by the island, that 

 he had seen several of the natives, under the first 

 clump of trees, from the deck ; that he had distin- 

 guished their houses, and seen several canoes hauled 

 up under the shade ; but in this he was more fortu- 

 nate than any other person on board. The east end of 

 this island, which, from its figure, we called the Bow, 

 lies in latitude 18° 2o S., and longitude 141° 1^' W.- 

 we observed the variation of the compass to be 5° 

 38' E. 



On the next day, Thursday the 6th, about noon, 

 we saw land again to the westward, and came up with 

 it about three. It appeared to be two islands, or 

 rather groups of islands, extending from N. W. by 

 N. to S. E. by S. about nine leagues. Of these, the 

 two largest were separated from each other by a 

 channel of about half a mile broad, and were seve- 

 rally surrounded by smaller islands, to which they 

 were joined by reefs that lay under water. 



These islands were long narrow strips of land, 

 ranging in all directions, some of them ten miles or 

 upwards in length, but none more than a quarter of 

 a mile broad, and upon all of them there were trees 

 of various kinds, particularly the cocoa-nut. The 

 south-eastermost of them lies in the latitude of 18° 

 1^' S. and longitude 142° 42' W., and at the distance 

 of twenty-five leagues in the direction of W. ^ N. 

 from the west end of Bow Island. We ranged alono- 

 the S. W. side of this island, and hauled into a bay 

 which lies to the N. W. of the southermost point of 



