2.54 



CHAP. XIV. 



FROM GUAHON TO ST. HELENA. 



Ihe 1st of December, latitude 16° 31', longi- 

 tude 219° 6^ A number of sea-birds indicated the 

 vicinity of an uninhabited island. According to 

 Arrowsmith's chart, there lies a sand-bank in this 

 latitude, which is said to have been also seen by 

 Spanish seamen. 



The 6th : latitude 20° longitude 232° 12'. A 

 small hawk was caught to-day. We discovered 

 some days ago a considerable leak in the ship ; 

 probably a piece of the sheathing had come off, 

 and the worms, which are so numerous between 

 the coral groups, had pierced through the wood ; 

 we therefore wished to reach Manilla as soon as 

 possible. 



On the 9th, at ten o'clock in the morning, the 

 island of Baton, one of the Bashee islands, was 

 discovered in the west, from the mast-head, 

 at a distance oi' twenty-seven miles. I now di- 

 rected my course in such a manner, that I might 

 be able to come in the Chinese Sea, between the 

 island of Sabtang and the three Balington's rocks. 

 We were favoured by a fresh wind, and, at half 

 past three o'clock in the afternoon, the largest and 



