TO KAMTSCHATKA. 155 



which we saw distinctly on the left, and whose 

 meridian we had already passed, which, accord- 

 ing to our ship's reckoning, could not be. I again 

 doubted the goodness of my chronometers, when 

 I was comforted by an excellent meridional observ- 

 ation, by which I perceived that the current had 

 played us this trick, and driven us thirty miles 

 to the west. My calculation of the longitude of 

 the Pallisers, agreed with that of Cook, within 

 three minutes. Between our latitude and Cook's 

 there was no difference ; I therefore had no reason 

 to complain of my time-keepers. Being fully con- 

 vinced, that the islands to the S. E. were the 

 Pallisers, and did not need to be inspected, we 

 turned to those newly discovered, which extend in 

 a chain to the S. W., as far as the eye can reach. 

 I shall not speak at length of their situation, be- 

 cause a single look at the chart, which is drawn 

 with great care, explains it better than any words. 

 I am inclined to take those islands for uninhabited, 

 as we saw neither traces of people, nor any cocoa- 

 trees, though we sailed along the whole chain, from 

 the south-west part, at the distance of half a mile 

 from the shore. We enjoyed, during this run, a 

 very pleasant prospect, as we could even clearly 

 see the trees agitated by the wind. The length of 

 the most considerable of these islands, lying at in- 

 tervals of from one hundred to two hundred fathoms, 

 and united by small coral reefs, is about two miles; 

 the breadth from about a quarter to half a mile ; 



