OF LA PEROUSE. 



299 



colours, among which a copper colour pre- 

 dominated, had fhot up beyond the highefl 

 clouds. 



Along the coall: of New Britain we faw a 

 great many inhabitants, and a confiderable 

 number of hut? erected upon flakes like thofc 

 of the Papuas. 



Wc'fTot out of the Strait before nio-ht. 



We then ftood along the northern coafl of 

 New Britain, to the northward of which we 

 difcovercd feveral fmall and very mountainous 

 iflands, till then unknown. T'le currents, in 

 this run, were fcarcely perceptible, except un- 

 der the meridian of Port Montague, where jhey 

 carried us rapidly towards the north, which 

 made us prefume that we were oppolice a 

 channel chat divides the iflands of New Britain. 

 On the 9th we quitted them, after having been 

 thwarted in the examination that we had juft 

 made of them, by the fouth-cait winds, and very 

 frequent calms. 



We had long been reduced to Itve on worm- 

 eaten bifcuic and fait meat, which was very 

 much tainted ; accordingly the fcurvy had 

 already made great ravages on board. We 

 were moft of us forced to renounce the ufc of 

 coffee, as it occalioned us fpafms, which were 

 extremely troublefomc. 



On 



