124 cook's second voyage SEPT. 



main bore S. 68° West, distant nine or ten leagues. 

 About seven o'clock we got a light breeze at north, 

 which enabled us to steer out E. S. E., and to spend 

 the night with less anxiety. On some of the low isles 

 were many of those elevations already mentioned. 

 Every one was now satisfied they were trees, except 

 our philosophers ; who still maintained that they w T ere 

 basaltes. 



About day break, on the &6th, the wind having 

 shifted to S.S. W., we stretched to S.E. for the hill be- 

 fore mentioned. It belonged to an island, which at 

 noon extended from S. 16° E. to S. 7° West, distant 

 six leagues. Latitude observed 22j° 16' South. In 

 the P. M. the wind freshened, and, veering to 

 S.S. E.,we stretched to the east, till two A.M. on the 

 27th, when we tacked and stood to S. W. with hopes 

 of weathering the island; but we fell about two 

 miles short of our expectations, and had to tack about 

 a mile from the east side of the island, the 

 extremes bearing from N.W. by N. to S.W. the hill 

 west, and some low isles, lying off the S.E. point, 

 S. by W. These seemed to be connected with the 

 large island by breakers. We sounded when in stays, 

 but had no ground with a line of eighty fathoms. 

 The skirts of this island were covered with the ele- 

 vations more than once mentioned. They had much 

 the appearance of tall pines, which occasioned my 

 giving that name to the island. The round hill, which 

 is on the S.W. side, is of such a height as to be seen 

 fourteen or sixteen leagues. The island is about a 

 mile in circuit, and situated in latitude % c 2° 38' S., 

 longitude I67 40' East. Having made two attempts 

 to weather the Isle of Pines before sunset, with no 

 better success than before, this determined me to 

 stretch off till midnight. This day at noon the ther- 

 mometer was at 68°J, which is lower than it had 

 been since the 27th of February. 



Having tacked at midnight, assisted by the cur- 

 rents, and a fresh gale at E.S.E. and S.E., next 



2 



