1779. THE PACIFIC OCEAN 1^7 



were overtaken by a stout canoe, with ten men, who 

 were going from Oneeheow to Tahoora, to kill tropic 

 and man-of-war birds, with which that place was said 

 to abound. It has been mentioned before, that the 

 feathers of these birds are in great request, being 

 much used in making their cloaks, and other orna- 

 mental parts of their dress. 



At eight, having seen nothing of the island, we 

 hauled the wind to the northward, till midnight, and 

 then tacked, and stood on a wind to the south-east, 

 till day-light next morning, at which time Tahoora 

 bore east north-east, five or six leagues distant. We 

 afterward steered west south-west, and made the Dis- 

 covery's signal to spread four miles upon our star- 

 board beam. At noon, our latitude was 21° 9Tj\ and 

 our longitude 198° 42'; and having stood on till five 

 in the same direction, we made the Discovery's sig- 

 nal to come under our stern, and gave over all hopes 

 of seeing Modoopapappa. We conceived, that it 

 might probably lie in a more southerly direction from 

 Tahoora, than that in which we had steered ; though, 

 after all, it is possible, that we might have passed it 

 in the night, as the islanders described it to be very 

 small, and almost even with the surface of the sea. 



The next day, we steered west ; it being Captain 

 Clerke's intention to keep as near as possible in the 

 same parallel of latitude, till we should make the lon- 

 gitude of Awatska Bay, and afterward to steer due 

 north for the harbour of Saint Peter and Saint Paul 

 in that bay ; which was also appointed for our ren- 

 dezvous, in case of separation. This track was 

 chosen on account of its being, as far as we knew, 

 unexplored ; and we were not without hopes of fall- 

 ing in with some new islands on our passage. 



We had scarcely seen a bird, since our losing sight 

 of Tahoora, till the 18th in the afternoon, when, 

 being in the latitude of 21° 12', and the longitude of 

 194° 45', the appearance of a great many boobies, 



