THE PACIFIC OCEAN. t 73 



to be very fmall, and almoft even with the furface of '779- 



, ,. March. 



the fea. c— - v — _^ 



The next day, we fleered Weft ; it being Captain Clerke's Wodnef. 17. 

 intention to keep as near as poffible in the fame parallel of 

 latitude, till we fliould make the longitude of AwatfkaBay, 

 and afterward to fleer due North for the harbour of Saint 

 Peter and Saint Paul in that bay ; which was alfo appointed 

 for our rendezvous, in cafe of reparation. This track was 

 chofen on account of its being, as far as wc knew, unex- 

 plored ; and we were not without hopes of falling in with 

 lbme new iflands on our paffage. 



We had fcarccly feen a bird, fince our lofing fight of Ta- 

 hoora, till the 18th in the afternoon, when, being in the Thurfdayis. 

 latitude of 21 12', and the longitude of 194 45', the ap- 

 pearance of a great many boobies, and fome man-of-war 

 birds, made us keep a fharp look-out for land. Toward 

 evening, the wind lefTened, and the North Eaft fwell, which, 

 on the 16th and 17th, had been fo heavy as to make the mips 

 labour exceedingly, was much abated. The next day, we Friday i 9 . 

 faw no appearance of land ; and at noon, we fleered a point 

 more to the Southward, viz. Wefl by South, in the hopes of 

 finding the trade winds (which blew almoft invariably from 

 the Eaft by North) freflier as we advanced within the tropic. 

 It is fomewhat Angular, that though we faw no birds in the 

 forenoon, yet toward evening we had again a number of 

 boobies and man-of-war birds about us. This feemed to 

 indicate, that we had paffed the land from whence the 

 former flights had come, and that, we were approaching 

 fome other low ifland. 



The wind continued very moderate, with fine weather, 

 till the 23d, when it freshened from the North Eaft by Eaft, T ue fday z$. 



and 



