LATE DISCOVERIES, 555 



minutes, and the 17th degree 53 minutes south latitude, and between 

 the 149th degree 11 minutes, and the 149th degree 39 minutes west 

 longitude. It consists of two peninsulas, of a somewhat circular form, 

 joined by an isthmus, and is surrounded by a reef of coral rocks, 

 which form several excellent bays and harbours, where there is room 

 and depth of water for almost any number of the largest ships. The 

 face of the country is very extraordinary ; for a border of low land 

 almost entirely surrounds each peninsula, and behind this border the 

 land rises in ridges that run up into the middle of these divisions, and 

 these form mountains that may be seen at sixty leagues distance. 

 The soil, except upon the very tops of the ridges, is remarkably 

 rich and fertile, watered by a great number of rivulets, and covered 

 with fruit-trees of various kinds, forming the most delightful groves, 

 The border of low land that lies between the ridges and the sea is 

 in few places more than a mile and a half broad ; and this, together 

 with some of the vallies, are the only parts that are inhabited. Cap- 

 tain Wallis made some stay at this island ; and it was afterwards 

 visited again by captain Cook, in the Endeavour, in April, 1769, 

 That commander was accompanied by sir Joseph Banks, and Dr. 

 Solander ; and these gentlemen, together with the captain, made a 

 very accurate survey of the island. 



Some parts of the island of Otaheite are very populous ; and cap- 

 tain Cook was of opinion, that the number of inhabitants on the whole 

 island amounted to 204,000, including women and children. They 

 are of a clear olive complexion, the men are tall, strong, well-limbed, 

 and finely shaped ; the women are of an inferior size, but handsome 

 and very amorous. Their clothing consists of cloth or matting of 

 different kinds ; and the greatest part of the food eaten here is vege- 

 table, as cocoa-nuts, bananas, bread-fruit, plantains, and a great 

 variety of other fruit. Their houses, those which are of a middling 

 size, are of an oblong square, about twenty-four feet long, and ele- 

 ven wide, with a shelving roof supported on three rows of posts, 

 parallel to each other, one row on each side, and one in the middle, 

 The utmost height within is about nine feet, and the eaves on each 

 side reach to within about three feet and a half from the ground. All 

 the rest is open, no part being inclosed with a wall. The roof ia 

 thatched with palm-leaves, and the floor covered some inches deep 

 with soft hay, over which they lay mats, upon which they sit in the 

 day, and sleep in the night. They have no tools among them made of 

 metal; and those they use are made of stones, or some kind of 

 bones. The inhabitants of Otaheite are remarkable for their clean- 

 liness ; for both men and women constantly wash their whole bodies, 

 in running water three times a day. Their language is soft and me- 

 lodious, and abounds with vowels. There were no tame animals 



and about a thousand leagues to the westward of the continent of America. The 

 11th of the same month he discovered another small island, to which he °-avn 

 the name of the Bishop of Osnaburgh's Island. The next day he discovered & two 

 other small islands, which he called the Duke of Gloucester's Islands. The fol- 

 lowing month he discovered a cluster of small islands, to which he gave the 

 name of Queen Charlotte's Islands, and also three others, which he namedGower's 

 Island, Simpson's Island, and Carteret's Island. On the 24th of the same month 

 he discovered Sir Charles Hardy's Island, which lies in latitude 4 decrees 50 mi 

 nutes south, and the next day Winchelsea's Island, which is distant about ten 

 leagues m the direction of south by east. He afterwards discovered several other 

 islands, and proceeded round the Cape of Good Hope to England, where he arri- 

 ved in March, 1769. 



