1774' ROUND THE WORLD. 83 



small, and had out-riggers. The calm continued till 

 near eight o'clock, in which time we drove into eighty- 

 five fathoms water, and so near the shore, that I ex- 

 pected we should be obliged to anchor. A breeze of 

 wind sprung up at E. S. E., and first took us on the 

 wrong side; but, contrary to all our expectations, 

 and when we had hardly room to veer, the ship came 

 about, and having filled on the starboard tack, we 

 stood off N. E. Thus we were relieved from the 

 apprehensions of being forced to anchor in a great 

 depth, on a lee shore, and in a dark and obscure 

 night. 



We continued to ply upwards, with variable 

 light breezes between E. S. E. and S., till ten next 

 morning, when it fell calm. We were, at this time, 

 about seven or eight miles from the head of the bay, 

 which is terminated by a low beach ; and behind that 

 is an extensive flat covered with wood, and bounded 

 on each side by a ridge of mountains. At noon we 

 found the latitude to be 15° 5' South, and were de- 

 tained here by the calm till one o'clock P. JVI., when 

 we got a breeze at N. by W., with which we steered 

 up to within two miles of the head of the bay ; and 

 then I sent Mr. Cooper and Mr. Gilbert to sound 

 and reconnoitre the coast, while we stood to and fro 

 with the ship. This gave time to three sailing ca- 

 noes, which had been following us some time, to 

 come up. There were five or six men in each ; and 

 they approached near enough to receive such things 

 as were thrown to them fastened to a rope, but would 

 not advance along-side. They were the same sort of 

 people as those we had seen the preceding evening ; 

 indeed we thought they came from the same place. 

 They seemed to be stouter and better shaped men 

 than those of Mallicollo ; and several circumstances 

 concurred to make us think they were of another 

 nation. They named the numerals as far as Hve or 

 six, in the language of Anamocka, and understood 

 us when we asked the names of the adjacent lands 



g 2 



