282 CRUISE OF THE PORPOISE. 



On the 11th, they made the island of Manhii, of the Paumotu 

 Group, and shortly after, that of Ahii, or Peacock Island : the same 

 day they spoke the whale-ship Nassau, of New Bedford, bound to 

 Tahiti. 



On the 13th, they made the Rurick Chain. 



On the 15th they reached Aratica, or Carlshotf Island, on which 

 Lieutenant-Commandant Ringgold had determined to land the party 

 intended to experiment in boring, consisting of fifteen men, under 

 Lieutenant Johnson, among whom were nine Kanakas and three 

 seamen, the armourer with his forge, and a carpenter. 



They had much rain with frequent squalls. Until they reached the 

 latitude of 8° N., the wind prevailed from east-northeast; then from 

 south to east, with frequent intermissions of calms ; and from the 

 parallel of 5° N. to 8° S., northeast winds were experienced ; to the 

 southward of the latter parallel, northwest and north winds. Lieu- 

 tenant Johnson, agreeably to my orders, was put in charge of the 

 party to conduct the experiments.* 



By the 18th, they had succeeded in completing all the arrangements, 

 when the brig left them in successful operation, to pursue her cruise 

 for thirty or forty days to the windward part of the group. 



On the 19th, they made Vincennes and Raraka Islands. 



On the 20th, they made Saken Island, which proved low, with but 

 a few trees on it : the greater part of the island is a reef. 



The next day they were up with the three small islands to the 

 southward of Saken, which they had been directed to look for and 

 survey. Lieutenant-Commandant Ringgold found and surveyed 

 them, and designated the cluster as the Sea-Gull Group ; while to 

 the three islands he gave the names of Passed Midshipman Reid and 

 Bacon, and Quarter-Master Clute. Reid Island proved to be in- 

 habited, and the brig was boarded from it by two canoes. These 

 contained four natives, besides a toothless old man calling himself a 

 missionary, who readily consented to remain for the night on board : 

 he was quite tastefully and well covered with tattooing, in chequered 

 marks, as described on our former visit to this group. The others 

 were not tattooed. The Tahitians on board had no difficulty in 

 understanding them. 



The canoes were small and wretched, being only about five feet 

 long and two feet wide. The account these people gave of them- 



* For orders, see Appendix X. 



