xxiv 



INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF 



[1821. 



leagues ; not noticed on any chart. At 2 P. M the wind had died 

 away to a dead calm. Knowing this to be a new discovery, and 

 anxious to ascertain if there were any fur-seal on its shores, I prevailed 

 on Captain Johnson to let me take my boat and visit the stranger. 

 The boat was accordingly lowered and manned, and at half-past two 

 our brave lads began to pull for the shore, which was now about ten 

 miles from us. Our orders were to return before dark, and in case 

 of a breeze springing up, to look for the Wasp under the lee of the 

 island. Our men gave way with great spirit and alacrity, cheered 

 with the hope of finding on the shores of our new discovered island an 

 abundance of that amphibious game of which we were in search. 



After two hours' hard rowing our boat reached the beach, and anx- 

 ious to be the first man on shore, I resigned the steering oar to one of 

 the men, and sprang into the bows of the boat, from whence I leaped 

 to land before a particle of sand had been disturbed by her keel. 

 Here were no inhabitants either to bid me welcome or to resent the 

 intrusion, with the exception of some twenty sea-dogs, reposing on 

 the beach, and their tacit hospitality we inhumanly rewarded by des- 

 patching five of the handsomest, and making free with their jackets. 



On what trifling contingencies depend important events ! This 

 little adventure proved the means of saving our lives ! But for the 

 capture of these sea-dogs, our boat and crew, in all human probability, 

 would never have been heard of more, nor would this humble narra- 

 tive have ever been put to paper ! But I will not anticipate. 



We now proceeded to explore the beach in search of fur-seal, and 

 soon feel in with a yearling of the right sort. This put our lads in 

 fine spirits, as it seemed the earnest of some heavy rookeries* ahead. 

 But in this hope we were all sadly disappointed ; for after vainly 

 exploring above ten miles of the shore, which abounded with spots 

 of fine beach, and places suitable for seal in a parturient state, we 

 gave up the search in despair, and prepared to return to our vessel. 



It was now near eight o'clock, P. M., and the wind had commenced 

 blowing a smart breeze from the west, attended with light snow- 

 squalls. The Wasp, as we expected, was lying-to on the leeward 

 side of the island, at the distance of about ten miles, bearing E.N.E. 

 by compass. We unmoored, hoisted sail, and steered directly for the 

 schooner with a fair wind, until we were within about two miles and 

 a half of her, when a thick snow-storm set in, while the wind contin- 

 ued to freshen. We still shaped our course for the position in which 

 the Wasp was last seen, lying-to with her starboard tacks on board, 

 bearing E. by N. half N. Consequently, we steered E. by N. for 

 about two miles, when we commenced firing muskets every five min- 

 utes, until we judged ourselves to be near the schooner. 



Not receiving any answer to our signal-guns, we turned the boat's 



* As this noun, in both its numbers, will frequently occur in the course of this work, it may not be 

 Improper in this place to explain its meaning. The word rookery, which properly means "a nur- 

 sery of rooks," has been applied by all our South Sea navigators to the breeding encampments of 

 various oceanic animals, such as seal, penguins, &c. It is possible, however, that it may have 

 been derived from the verb to rook, or to ruck, which signifies to squat. ; to bend and set close, to 

 cower, &c. At the risk of transgressing the canons of criiicism, I shall use the term rookery aa 

 it is understood by South Sea sailors — " a spot selected by certain animals for the purpose of bring- 

 ing forth their young." 



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