T H E P A C I F I C O C E A N. 275 



board, to conduct: tis to the befc anchoraee. We fleered »77;- 



|une. 



South by Weft by compafs. > "—,.-. ^ 



At five in the afternoon we faw two fmall iflands, bearing 

 Weft, about four leagues diftant. Our pilots called the one 

 Hoonga Hapaee, and the other Hoonga Tonga. They lie 

 in the latitude of 20* 36' ; and ten or eleven leagues from 

 the Weft point of Annamooka, in the diredion of South, 

 46' Weft. According to the account of the iflanders on 

 board, only five men refide upon Hoonga Hapaee ; and 

 Hoonga Tonga is uninhabited ; but both of them abound 

 with fea-fowl. 



We continued the fame courfe till two o'clock next morn- Monday g^- 

 ing, when, feeing fome lights ahead, and not knowing whe- 

 ther they were on fhore, or on board the canoes, we hauled 

 the wind, and made a fhort trip, each way, till day-break. 

 We then refumed our courfe to the South by Weft ; and, 

 prefently after, faw feveral fmall iflands before us, and 

 Eooa and Tongataboo beyond them. We had, at this 

 time, twenty-five fathoms water, over a bottom of broken 

 coral and fand. The depth gradually decreafed as we drew 

 near the ifles above mentioned, which lie ranged along the 

 North Eaft fide of Tongataboo. By the direction of our pilots 

 we fteered for the middle of it, and for the wideft fpace be- 

 tween the fmall ifles which we were to pafs ; having our 

 boats ahead, employed in founding. We were, infenfibly, 

 drawn upon a large flat, upon which lay innumerable coral 

 rocks, of different depths, below the furface of the water. 

 Notwithtlanding all our care and atteniion to keep the fhip 

 clear of them, we could not prevent her from ftriking on 

 one of thefe rocks. Nor did the Difcovery, though behind 

 us, efcape any better. Fortunately, neither of the fhips ftuck 



N n 2 faft, 



