310 ISLANDS OrSCOVEftED 



Tindal and Watts, marked on Marshairs map.* 

 That the islands of the Ralick chain, and not 

 those of the Radack chain, were seen by the Scar- 

 borough and Nautilus seems to be probable, from 

 the following circumstance, that Langemui, a chief 

 of the gi'oup of Ailu told Kotzebue, that many 

 years ago a ship with white men touched at the 

 group of Odja, (the largest of the Ralick chain,) 

 from which the natives procured iron in exchange; 

 but nobody could remember a similar visit in the 

 islands of the Radack chain. They also knew that 

 many years ago a ship had sailed past the island 

 of Bigini, which is the most northern group of the 

 Ralick chain, and, as I have already said, accord- 

 ing to all probability, the islands which Wallis took 

 for the Pescadores. And thus it becomes pro- 

 bable that the discovery of the islands described 

 by Lieutenant Kotzebue is truly owing to him, 

 which is still more confirmed, because the island 

 called by him New Year's Island, was seen neither 

 by the Scarborough nor the Nautilus. 



But even supposing that it could be proved that 

 Lieutenant Kotzebue is not the first discoverer of 

 these islands, the merit cannot be disputed him, 

 of having first made us acquainted with their true 



* In the account of the voyage of the Scarborough, no men- 

 tion is made of the discovery of the islands of Tindal and 

 Watts. They have likcAvise not been marked on the charts of 

 Arrowsmith ami Espinosa, 



