ELLICE'S AND KINGS MILL GROUP. 47 



longitude 176° 23' 15" E. This discovery I have called Hudson, 

 after Captain Hudson. It was surveyed, and found to be but one 

 mile and four-tenths long, north and south, and nine-tenths of a mile 

 wide, east and west. This island is inhabited, a few natives being 

 seen on the beach, and several houses under cocoa-nut trees on its 

 west side. It is of coral formation, has no lagoon, and can be seen 

 about eight or ten miles. There are reefs extending from its north 

 and south points nearly half a mile, on which the surf breaks heavily. 

 They had no communication with its inhabitants. 



On the 25th, they passed the small island of St. Augustine, whose 

 position as ascertained was in latitude 5° 35' 00" S., and longitude 

 176° 06' E. It appeared well wooded, but being to windward, it 

 could not be reached without much delay. The wind, thus far, 

 among these islands, had been from the north, and very unfavourable 

 for a vessel cruising among them for their examination ; and being 

 light and variable, little progress could be made in any direction. 



Until the 3d of April, they continued to sail to the northward, 

 without meeting with any islands. On that day they made Drum- 

 mond's Island of the charts, one of the Kingsmill Group, where they 

 encountered the regular northeast trades. This island is called Tapu- 

 teouea by the natives; it is situated in latitude 1° 20' 00" S., and longi- 

 tude 174° 57' 00" E. It is of coral formation, is thirty miles long in a 

 northwest and southeast direction, and varies in width from a half to 

 three quarters of a mile. This, however, only includes the high por- 

 tions, or that which is above the ocean level a few feet. It is thinly 

 covered with cocoa-nut and pandanus trees, and not a patch of grass 

 is to be seen, or any sort of shrubbery or undergrowth. To the 

 leeward, or on its west side, the reefs and sand-banks extend off some 

 distance, gradually increasing from the northwest point to the south- 

 east, where they are as much as six and a half miles in width. 

 This reef is interrupted in places, and there is good anchorage off the 

 town of Utiroa, towards the northwest end, near a small sand-bank, 

 which is usually bare. The whole shore of the island as they ap- 

 proached it appeared covered with houses, presenting to the view one 

 continuous village. At intervals of a mile there were buildings of 

 huge proportions, far exceeding in size any they had before met 

 with. 



As they approached, canoes were seen coming towards them from 

 all parts of the island. The appearance of these natives was totally 

 different from those already seen to the south. They appeared of the 



