184 
VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP, the island having been seen at daybreak “ far to windward and it 
should not be overlooked that his latitude at Cumberland Island the 
Feb. day before was eight miles in error the same way. which makes it very 
1 82 () O •/ ' */ 
probable that either his observations were indifferent, or that he had 
incorrect tables of declination. 
In forming this conclusion, I am aware that I am depriving Captain 
Duperrey of the merit of a discovery, but he will, it is hoped, admit the 
justice of my opinion. 
All the islands seen by Cook, Wallis, and Carteret, lying within the 
limit of our survey, have been found to be accurately described, except- 
ing that their size has always been overrated ; a mistake very likely to 
arise with low strips of land deficient in familiar objects to direct the 
judgment where actual measurement was not resorted to. 
The discoveries of Mr. Turnbull are so loosely related in his 
entertaining Voyage, that their situation cannot be ascertained; and 
unless some better clue to them is given, they will always be liable to be 
claimed by subsequent navigators. 
Of the thirty-two islands which have thus been visited in succes- 
sion, only twelve are inhabited, including Pitcairn Island, and the 
amount of the population altogether cannot possibly exceed three 
thousand one hundred souls; of which one thousand belong to the 
Gambler groupe, and twelve hundred and sixty to Easter Island, leav- 
ing eight hundred and forty persons only to occupy the other thirty 
islands. 
All the natives apparently profess the same religion ; all speak the 
same language, and are in all essential points the same people. There 
is a great diversity of features and complexion between those inhabiting 
the volcanic islands and the natives of the coral formations, the 
former being a taller and fairer race. This change may be attributed 
to a difference of food, habits, and comfort ; the one having to seek a 
daily subsistence upon the reefs, exposed to a burning sun and to the 
painful glare of a white coral beach, while the other enjoys plentifully 
the spontaneous produce of the earth, reposes beneath the genial shade 
of palm or bread-fruit groves, and passes a life of comparative ease and 
luxury. 
