492 



HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



and for some days his life was despaired of. The crew suffered 

 severely from scurvy. On the 11th of March, they fell in with 

 Roggewein's Easter Island, which they recognised by the gigantic 

 statues which lined the coast. They noticed a singular dispro- 

 portion in the number of the males and females, having counted 

 in the island some seven hundred men and only thirty women. 



Early in April, Cook arrived among the Marquesas Islands, 

 discovered in 1595 by Mendana. On the 22d, he arrived at 

 Point Venus, in Tahiti, where he had observed the transit in 

 1769, and of which the longitude was known: he was able, 

 therefore, to determine the error of his watch, and to fix anew 

 its rate of going. The natives, and especially Otoo, the king, 

 expressed no little joy at seeing him again. On leaving Ta- 

 hiti, Cook visited in detail the islands named Espiritu Santo by 

 Quiros and Grandes Cyclades by Bougainville. As he deter- 

 mined their extent and position, he took the liberty of changing 

 their name to that of the New Hebrides. 



Cook now discovered the large island of New Caledonia, 

 whose inhabitants he mentions as possessing an excellent cha- 

 racter. Subsequent navigators, however, ascertained them to be 

 cannibals. They were much lower in the scale of intelligence 

 than the Tahitians. Their canoes were of the most clumsy 



NEW CALEDONIAN DOUBLE CANOE. 



description, and were generally propelled in pairs by polos. 

 Cook was unable to obtain provisions ; and, as his crew were 

 now suffering from famine, he returned to New Zealand, where 



