NEW ISLANDS DISCOVERED. 275 



After having terminated our observations, we 

 pursued a southerly course, in hopes of discover 

 ing more land, and sailed at a great rate during 

 the whole of the day, without seeing any thing. 

 At night we lay-to ; but the following morning, 

 the 9th of October, we had scarcely spread our 

 sails, before the man at the mast-head disco 

 vered some low islands to the north, which we 

 had already past, and which now lay to wind 

 ward of us. I immediately changed our course, 

 and endeavoured to approach them by dint of 

 tacking, but a strong easterly current, which 

 increased as we drew nearer to the land, almost 

 baffled our efforts. We succeeded with much 

 difficulty in getting within eleven miles and a 

 half of the western extremity of the group, dis 

 tinguished by a small round hill, which at noon 

 lay due east, our latitude by observation being 

 11 30 32&quot;, and our longitude 194 34 . From 

 this point we could see the group, stretching to 

 the verge of the horizon, in a south-easterly and 

 north-easterly direction. We again attempted 

 to approach them nearer; but not succeeding, 

 we were obliged to continue our course to 

 the westward, contenting ourselves with deter- 



