86 cook's second voyage august 



other distant ten leagues. The bay is every where 

 free from danger, and of unfathomable depth, ex- 

 cept near the shores, which are for the most part 

 low. This, however, is only a very narrow strip be- 

 tween the sea-shore and the foot of the hills ; for the 

 bay, as well as the flat land at the head of it, is 

 bounded on each side by a ridge of hills, one of which, 

 that to the west, is very high and double, extending 

 the whole length of the island. An uncommonly 

 luxuriant vegetation was every where to be seen ; 

 the sides of the hills were chequered with plantations, 

 and every valley watered by a stream. Of all the 

 productions of nature this country was adorned with, 

 the cocoa-nut trees w r ere the most conspicuous. The 

 columns of smoke we saw by day, and the fires by 

 night, all over the country, led us to believe that it is 

 well inhabited and very fertile. The east point of this 

 bay, which I name Cape Quiros, in memory of its first 

 discoverer, is situated in latitude 14° 56' South, lon- 

 gitude 167° 13' East. The N. W. point, which I 

 named Cape Cumberland, in honour of his Royal 

 Highness the Duke, lies in the latitude of 14° 38' 

 45" South, longitude 166° 49±' East, and is the 

 N. W. extremity of this archipelago ; for, after 

 doubling it, we found the coast to trend gradually 

 round to the S. and S. S. E. 



On the 28th and 29th we had light airs and calms, 

 so that we advanced but little. In this time we took 

 every opportunity, when the horizon was clearer 

 than usual, to look out for more land ; but none was 

 seen. By Quiros's track to the north, after leaving 

 the bay above mentioned, it seems probable that there 

 is none nearer than Queen Charlotte's Island, disco- 

 vered by Captain Carteret, which lies about ninety 

 leagues N. N. W. from Cape Cumberland, and I take 

 to be the same with Quiros's Santa Cruz. 



On the 30th the calm was succeeded by a fresh 

 breeze at S. S. E., which enabled us to ply up the coast. 

 At noon we observed in 15° 20' ; afterwards we 



