300 VOYAGE IN SEARCH 



In the courfe of the morning of the 21ft we 

 were very near the two little iflands of Mif- 

 palu. The fmalleft is in latitude o 20' lbuth, 

 and longitude 130 7' eaft ; and thelargcft lies in 

 latitude o 19/ $7" fouth, and longitude 130 4' 

 3c" eaft. 



On the 23d we ran very clofe along the mores of 

 New Guinea, in the intention of entering among 

 the Moluccas, by Watfon's Strait. It would have 

 been an agreeable circumftance to us to explore 

 this Strait, which is much lefs frequented than 

 thofe that lie farther to the weftward. We mould, 

 befides, have had the -advantage of keeping more 

 to windward, than in going through Pitt's Strait, 

 which the continuance of the foutherly winds in- 

 duced us to ftand into. 



About eleven o'clock in the morning, being 

 fo the north-weft, and quite clofe to its opening, 

 we found ourfelves on a fhoal, which ftretches 

 out from the coaft of Batanta upwards of a my- 

 riameter into the offing. We had already run 

 pretty far over it when the lead gave us eight 

 fathoms water, with a rockv bottom. It was 

 a bank of coral, all the whitenefs of which the 

 limpidity of the water allowed us to diftinguifh. 

 We were obliged to put about, in order to extri- 

 cate ourfelves from this dangerous fituation. 



We entered the Strait about half paft two 

 o'clock in the afternoon. A canoe, which we 



perceived 



