OQft Henderville Island in the Kings- 

 mill Group. An Irish deserter 



f\v Ttru T>T? A rr>r*TS from an English whale-ship found 

 O I 1 1 Hi, 1'k ACOCK. at Kuria Island. 



At daylight on the llth, they made Henderville 

 Island, called by the natives Nanouki. 



Henderville Island was determined to be in lati- 

 tude 11' N., and longitude 173 39' 20" E. This 

 island is six and a half miles long, east and west, 

 and five and a half miles wide at the east end, 

 diminishing to two miles at the west end : it is of 

 coral formation. There are two towns on the west 

 end, and several on the east and south-east parts, 

 and it is thickly inhabited. The natives who came 

 on board said that the two ends of the island were 

 at war with each other. They are very much the 

 same in appearance as the natives of Drummond's 

 Island ; were naked, and spoke the same dialect. 

 These natives knew of the islands in their imme- 

 diate vicinity, as well as the direction of Tapute- 

 ouea, or Drummond's Island, and gave them the 

 name of being inhabited by a savage and hostile 

 people. 



Hall's Island, called by the natives Maiana, is of 

 coral formation ; the north-east and south-east 

 parts are continuous land, whilst to the south-west 

 and north-west it consists of a reef and bank, in 

 some places awash, with a sand-pit in its lagoon. 

 The western sides of the island arc therefore very 

 dangerous, and should be approached with caution, 

 as the sea seldom breaks on them, and the dis- 

 coloration of the water is not at all times to be 

 observed. The survey makes this island nine miles 

 long, in a north-east and south-west direction, and 

 six miles in width, in a south-east and north-west 

 direction : it is situated in latitude 56' 45" N., and 

 longitude 173 4' 15" E. On its west side, on 

 some of the banks, there is anchorage in from ten 

 to fifteen fathoms of water. 



On the morning of the 15th, they made the 

 island of Apamama, the Hopper Island of Duper- 

 rey, and the Simpson's Island of the charts of 

 Arrowsmith. It is about five feet above the surface 

 of the ocean ; is ten miles long, north-west and 

 south-east, and five miles in width, north and 

 south. The land is continuous on the north and 

 east sides, excepting two small strips of bare reef. 

 There is anchorage on the west side in an opening 

 between the reef and the north-west point of the 

 island, which is about two miles wide. The sound- 

 ings vary from two to five fathoms : across it, in 

 some places, the bottom is broken coral ; in others, 

 it is coral sand. The entrance to the lagoon, 

 although feasible, should not be attempted through 

 this passage ; but there is a good passage into it on 

 the south-east side of the island, which is a mile 

 wide. A small quantity of fresh water may be 

 had by digging on the beaches : wood and refresh- 

 ments are not procurable for shipping. This is- 

 land is situated in latitude 27' 21" N., and longitude 

 173 57' 30" E. : it has heretofore been repre- 

 sented as two islands on the charts, called on one 

 Simpson's, and the other Hopper and Harbottle ; 

 but there is only one, joined by the same reef. 



On the 1 6 th, while engaged in the survey of 

 Kuria or Woodle's Island, some canoes came off 

 to the ship, when the natives came on board with- 

 out hesitation, an evidence of their having had 

 communication with ships, and their confidence of 

 good treatment. It was soon reported, that a white 

 man was coming off ; and, as in all such cases, he 

 was looked for and watched with great interest, 

 and various surmises were made relative to his 

 origin and history. They were not long left in 



doubt, for before he reached the deck, his voice 

 bespoke him an Irishman. He was dressed in a 

 pair of duck trousers and red flannel shirt, and 

 announced himself as " John Kirby, a deserter 

 from the English whale-ship Admiral Cockburn." 

 He said he had been on the island for three years; 

 that he was living with the daughter of the princi- 

 pal chief ; and solicited a passage to some civilized 

 place. 



The principal chief of the island, with his 

 daughter, whom Kirby had for a wife, came on 

 board with him. They both seemed deeply af- 

 fected, when they learned that he had received 

 permission to remain on board, and was about to 

 leave them ; and both endeavoured to dissuade 

 him from going. 



His wife showed much concern, and wished to 

 accompany him : the old chief, her father, en- 

 deavoured to persuade him to take her. Finding 

 she could not prevail, she requested as a parting 

 gift, an old jack-knife, the only property he had 

 left to give. Several presents were made to her 

 by the officers and men, which reconciled her 

 somewhat to her lot. The natives all left the ship 

 much gratified, excepting Kirby's wife, who con- 

 tinued to be somewhat downhearted. 



Kirby proved an intelligent man : he understood 

 the language, and was well acquainted with the 

 character, manners, and customs of the islanders, 

 among whom he had lived from the llth of Feb- 

 ruary, 1838, to the 15th of April, 1841. His pre- 

 sence in the ship afforded Captain Hudson an 

 opportunity, not only of communicating with the 

 natives more freely, but of obtaining much inter- 

 esting information relative to this group. 



Kuria or Woodle's Island has four towns on it, 

 which Kirby estimates to contain between four and 

 five thousand inhabitants. Its geographical posi- 

 tion is in latitude 14' 30" N., longitude 173 27' E.: 

 its greatest length is five miles, north-west and 

 south-east, and its greatest width, which is at the 

 south-east end, is two and a half miles. The re- 

 mainder is very narrow, and almost divided towards 

 the centre. The north-west portion has two small 

 lagoons, two or three hundred yards from the 

 beach ; the water in them is not so salt as the 

 ocean. In one of them, the bottom consists of red 

 mud on one side, while it is a white clay on the 

 other. They are used as fish-ponds by the chiefs. 

 There is a reef extending to the north-west nearly 

 three miles. 



Kirby states, that on the first night of his land- 

 ing, they stripped him of every thing but an old 

 pair of trousers, after which he was conducted to a 

 great conclave of natives, assembled around a large 

 fire, which he then believed was intended to roast 

 him. He had fortunately gone on shore in the 

 highest chief's canoe, and placed himself under his 

 protection, as well as he knew how. After some 

 considerable talk, instead of being roasted, he was 

 furnished with a wife, and taken to reside with his 

 friend, the principal chief, who, with the rest of 

 the natives, ever after treated him kindly. After 

 a few months' residence in the family of the chief, 

 he gave his own daughter to Kirby for a wife. 

 The result of this was much jealousy and envy 

 between his first wife, of common origin, and his 

 last, of high rank, until the former was ousted and 

 sent back to her parents, leaving the chief's daugh- 

 ter in quiet possession of the house. 



