148 
VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP. same. According to our calculation the whole population did not 
exceed two hundred. 
Jan. The island is ten miles in length, but very narrow, particularly at the 
extremities, and, when seen at a distance, does not appear to be half a 
mile wide. It is of the same formation as Lord Hood’s Island, but more 
perfect. With the exception of a few breaks in the southern shore, by 
which the sea, when high, may at times communicate with the lagoon, 
it is altogether above water. At the extremities and angles the soil is 
more elevated than in other parts, as if the influence of the sea had 
been more felt upon them, and heaped up the coral higher. They are, 
also, better provided with shrubs, and particularly cocoa-nut trees, the 
soil resting upon the debris being, I suppose, deeper. The lagoon 
had several small islets in if, and the shores all round are steep, and 
abound with fish, but we did not see any sharks. 
Captain Duperry, in his voyage round the world in the Coquille, 
visited this island, and, supposing it to be a new discovery, named it 
Clermont Tonnere, after the French minister of marine. It is evident, 
however, from its situation agreeing very nearly with that of an 
island discovered by the Minerva, that it must be the same ; no other 
being found sufficiently near to answer the description. Captain Du- 
perry has, no doubt, been misled by the dimensions given of the island 
by the Minerva ; but that may be easily accounted for, by supposing 
the island to have been seen from the Minerva lengthwise, and at a 
distance. 
While we were off Clermont Tonnere, we had a narrow escape from 
a water-spout of more than ordinary size. It approached us amidst 
heavy rain, thunder, and lightning, and was not seen until it was very 
near to the ship. As soon as we were within its influence, a gust of 
wind obliged us to take in every sail, and the topsails, which coidd not 
be furled in time, w^ere in danger of splitting. The wind blew with 
great violence, momentarily changing its direction, as if it were sweeping 
round in short spirals ; the rain, which fell in torrents, was also pre- 
cipitated in curves with short intervals of cessation. Amidst this 
thick shower the water-spout was discovered, extending in a tapering 
