ELLICE'S AND KINGSMILL GROUP. 69 



which have had constant intercourse with shipping. They appeared 

 entirely ignorant of the use of tobacco, which it will be recollected the 

 other natives coveted so much ; and what seemed to confirm the belief 

 in the truth of their assertion of the visits of ships, was the absence of 

 females in the canoes, which had been with the natives of the other 

 islands so prominent an article of barter. 



They seemed delighted with the pieces of old iron, and regarded 

 junk-bottles with admiration. They are entirely the same in appear- 

 ance, and in character and customs, with the rest; they go naked, and 

 speak the same dialect. 



Tarawa lies in latitude 1° 29' N., and longitude 173° 05' E., and is 

 of coral formation. 



Until the 24th, they were engaged in the survey of Apia, or Char- 

 lotte Island. This consists of strings of coral islets, situated within a 

 reef, which is six and seven feet above the water. The reef has a 

 bluff front, and is much worn by the sea. There is no coral sand. 

 Apia was found to be in latitude 1° 52' N., and 173° 02' E. It is a 

 lagoon island. Its length in the direction of northeast and southwest 

 is sixteen miles, and its average breadth five. On the east side of the 

 island the land is covered with cocoa-nut and pandanus groves, with 

 some undergrowth. The northwest and west side is a continuous reef, 

 four or five feet above the water's edge, on which are many islets. 

 About the centre of the reef, on the southwest side, is a ship's channel 

 into the lagoon, which is half a mile wide. Near its entrance is a 

 small islet, which stands alone, and is a good mark for the entrance. 

 There is no island in the lagoon, as shown on the French charts of 

 Duperrey. 



This island would appear to be thickly inhabited, from the number 

 of towns on it. Several canoes came off to the ship, which were 

 similar in construction to the others we had seen. Their stock of 

 articles for trade was, as usual, scanty. There was but one woman 

 seen, and she proved as ugly as those previously met with had been 

 pleasing in their looks. They speak the same dialect, and are the same 

 people, although their intercourse seems to have been very much con- 

 fined to themselves. At the islet near the entrance to the lagoon, about 

 sixty gallons of water were obtained from the native well, but it was 

 flat and brackish. No other supplies can be procured at this island. 



When the boats landed at the islet, the natives were in great alarm, 

 and fled ; but, reassured by the calls of Kirby, they returned, and their 

 fears were effectually quieted by a few presents. 



It was ascertained that their knowledge of other islands only ex- 

 tended to Tarawa, or Knox's Island, and two others. To one of these 



