Cruise of the Porpoise 



PENRHYN ISLAND. 



Cruise of the Porpoise. 



277 



ed all the necessary observations, proceeded, on the 

 23rd, in searcli of some islands to the eastward. On 

 the 26th they made the island of Raroia, or Barclay 

 de Tolly, and passed close to it. The position as- 

 signed to it on the charts proved to be correct. 



On the 2?th, they made Takurea, or Wolconsky, 

 with Raroia in sight to the southward : there is a 

 passage between them seven miles wide. The 

 former, Wolconsky, is of an oblong shape, ten miles 

 in circumference : its north end is high and thickly 

 wooded with cocoa-nut groves and other trees: its 

 eastern boundary is partly a submerged reef. There 

 is no opening to its lagoon. It was found to be in- 

 correctly placed on the charts. 



The search after Camboy's and Merril Islands 

 proved unsuccessful. The position assigned to them, 

 longitude 141 W., latitude 15 13' S. having been 

 cruised over without any appearance whatever of 

 land. 



On the 5th January, 1841, they passed near Ta- 

 weree, or Resolution Island, but found there was 

 too much surf to land upon it. There were about 

 twenty inhabitants, who, on the approach of the 

 brig, came running to the beach with cocoa- nuts to 

 barter. They appeared to be stout men, and were 

 thought to resemble the natives seen at Clermont de 

 Tonnerre. 



Taweree consists of two small isles, together 

 about four miles in circumference : it has three 

 clumps of cocoa-nut trees upon it, but of its south 

 and west sides the greater portion is a bare reef. 

 After surveying it, they bore up for the two groups, 

 and the same afternoon passed through the channel 

 between them, which is a mile wide, with no sound- 

 ings. The southern island was surveyed: it has a 

 bare reef on its south-east and west sides, with a 

 cocoa-nut grove on the south end. No entrance 

 exists to the lagoon, and ho natives were seen. The 

 southern portion of the northern isle is a bare 

 reef, with some high clumps of trees on the eastern 

 side. 



On the 6th, Nukutipipi or Margaret's Island 

 was made. It proved to be a small round lagoon 

 island, two miles in circumference, high and well- 

 wooded on the north side, with a flat submerged 

 reef on the south-east and east sides. After com- 

 pleting the observations, they stood for Teku or the 

 Four Crowns of Quiros, the island to the westward: 

 it has now five clumps of trees. It had no opening 

 to its lagoon, nor could a landing be effected. No 

 traces of inhabitants were seen on either of the 

 islands. 



On the 10th, Lieutenant-Commandant Ringgold 

 made what they supposed to be the island of Arch- 

 angel, but very much out of place. It is a small 

 lagoon island, of oblong shape, lying north-west and 

 south-east; wooded on the north-east and east with 

 a stunted growth of trees. No cocoa-nut trees 

 were seen, and the eastern portion of the trees 

 appeared as if burnt. A reef extends off the north- 

 west and south-west sides, with a heavy surf, and 

 there is a submerged reef on the south and west 

 sides. No opening exists, and a landing cannot be 

 effected without imminent danger to the boats. Its 

 native name is Heretua. 



The supposed location of Archangel was then 

 searched for, but no signs of land found. Turnbull 

 Island was also looked for without success. 



On the 12th, they made the island of San Pablo, 

 in latitude 19 56' S., longitude 145 W. This 



island is higher than those just mentioned : it has 

 several cocoa-nut groves, and natives were seen 

 on the island. No opening was observed into its 

 lagoon. 



After searching around this locality for other 

 islands, the Porpoise steered to the northward, for 

 the island of Aratica (Carlshoff). On the 15th 

 they made the island of Tahanea : its south end is 

 a bare reef, but there are trees on the east and 

 west sides. Fires were seen after dark on the 

 island. This, like all the other islands, has small 

 islets around it, connected by low coral reefs, and 

 washed by the sea in several places. 



Passing in sight of Saken, Raraka, and Taiara, 

 they made Aratica on the 18th, where they found 

 the party all well, and at once began to embark 

 them, which was completed on the 19th. The Por- 

 poise then bore away for Tahiti, two hundred and 

 fifty miles distant, which they made on the 21st, 

 and the same day they anchored in Matavai 

 Bay. 



At the time the brig left him, Lieutenant John- 

 son had succeeded in making a beginning with the 

 apparatus. Considering the novelty of the business, 

 and that all were unacquainted with the uses of the 

 different parts of the machinery, I was aware of 

 the difficulty of the task that would be imposed 

 upon the officer who directed the operation. I had 

 therefore designated Lieutenant Johnson for this 

 business, who, on account of his ingenuity, perse- 

 verance, and mechanical contrivance, waa con- 

 sidered by me as most suitable for this duty. The 

 undertaking proved fully as laborious as I had an- 

 ticipated, and Lieutenant Johnson's exertions were 

 worthy of better success. The principal difficul- 

 ties he had to encounter were the looseness of the 

 sand, and the falling in of the coral stones. Every 

 means were devised to overcome these impedi- 

 ments, but in the attempts the pipes became 

 choked, broke, and were thrown out of the perpen- 

 dicular. When the impediments in one place were 

 found to be too great to be overcome, it was aban- 

 doned, and the work began anew. The greatest 

 depth to which he succeeded in reaching was 

 twenty-one feet : ten to eleven feet were generally 

 accomplished without much difficulty ; but after 

 that depth was arrived at, they frequently did 

 not succeed in getting down beyond one foot per 

 day. 



The coral shelf, composed of conglomerates and 

 compact coral rock, seems to have afforded an im- 

 pediment to further progress. After the breaking 

 of pipes and augers, and the occurrence of various 

 other accidents, principally from the impossibility 

 of maintaining a perpendicular ; Lieutenant John- 

 son began from his acquired experience to hope for 

 success a day or two previous to the arrival of the 

 brig, when the whole was abandoned by order of 

 Lieutenant-Commandant Ringgold, and every thing 

 embarked. I am well satisfied that there is no 

 insuperable difficulty in boring into coral islands ; 

 but in the present case the season of the year was 

 somewhat against them, as it caused them to en- 

 counter much more water in the soil than they 

 would otherwise have met with. The proper sea- 

 son for such an attempt would be the dry one. 

 Much rain fell during their stay ; aud although no 

 serious sickness occurred, yet many felt unwell. 



These experiments turned out very much as I 

 anticipated, viz. that we should find but little 



