THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
409 
„ * 779 . 
November. 
who gives a very favourable account, both of the civility 
of the inhabitants, and of the plenty of hogs and vege- t 
tables, with which the country abounds : they were after¬ 
ward feen by Byron and Wallis, who pafted them without 
landing. 
In order to extend our view, in the day-time, the fhips 
fpread between two and three leagues from each other, and 
during the night, we went under an eafy fail; fo that it 
was fcarcely pofhble to pafs any land that lay in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of our courfe. In this manner we proceeded, 
without any occurrence worth remarking, with a frefh 
breeze from the North Eaft, till the 22d, when it increafed Monday 22 . 
to a ftrong gale, with violent fqualls of wind and rain, 
which brought us under clofe-reefed top-fails. 
At noon of the 23d, the latitude, by account, was 21 0 5', Tuefday 25 . 
and longitude 123 0 20"; at fix in the evening, being now 
only twenty-one leagues from the Balhee iflands, accord¬ 
ing to the fttuation in Mr. Dalrymple’s map, and the wea¬ 
ther fqually attended with a thick haze, w r e hauled our 
wind to the North North Weft, and handed the fore top- 
fail. 
During the whole of the 24th it rained inceftantly, and Weinef. 24. 
the wind ftill blew a ftorm; a heavy fea rolled down on us 
from the North, and in the afternoon we had violent flalhes 
of lightning from the fame quarter. We continued upon a 
wind to the North North Weft till nine o’clock, when we 
tacked, and ftood to the South South Eaft, till four in the 
morning of the 25th, and then wore. During the night, Thurfday 25, 
there was an eclipfe of the moon, but the rain prevented 
our making any obfervation; unfortunately, at the time 
of the greateft darknefs, a feaman, in flowing the main- 
top-ipaft ftay-fail, fell overboard, but laying hold of a 
Vol. Ill, 3 G rope, 
