30^2 ISLANDS Disrovi:uivr3 



by any navigator. The ship Penrhyn considered 

 the group to be only a single island, as it was only 

 approached within eight miles, and the weather un- 

 favourable to further examination. 



Lieutenant Kotzebue found the latitude of these 

 islands to be 9° 1' SO" south, and the longitude 

 157° 34' 32'': 8' more north, and IT more east, 

 than they were determined by the ship Penrhyn. 

 He counted fifteen islands, forming a circle, eleven 

 miles and a half in diameter. The population 

 of these islands, with respect to their size, appeared 

 to be very considerable. 



On his voyage to the north, Lieutenant Kotze- 

 bue wished to cross the chain of islands discovered 

 by Marshall, in 1788, of which the Mulgrave 

 islands are the southern, and Gilbert islands the 

 northern. He could not, however, descry land 

 between eight and ten degrees of latitude, in the 

 longitude laid down on Arrowsmith*s chart; a 

 proof that this longitude is incorrect. The great 

 chain of islands, which forms two large archi- 

 pelagos, from 1° south to 12° north, and which 

 have been called, after their discoverers, Gilbert 

 and Marshall islands, deserve a closer examination. 

 Arrowsmith assured M. Von Kotzebue, that he 

 had marked them on his chart according to the 

 statements of several navigators who had seen 

 here and there an island of this archipelago, and, 

 consequently, he could not be answerable for their 

 accuracy. The researches of Lieutenant Kotzebue, 



