r o u n d T H E W O R L D . 303
came back,-and the crew informed us that there was no road for
a fhip to anchor in, the bottom being every where foul ground,
and all, except one fmall fpot, not lefs than fifty fathom in depth ;
that on that fpot there was thirty fathom, though not above half a
mile from the fhore 5 and that the bank was fteep too, and could
not be depended on : They farther told us, that they had landed on
the lfland, not without fome difficulty on account of the greatnefs
of the fwell , that they found the ground was every where covered
with a kind of wild cane, or rufhrbut that they met with no
water, and did not believe the place to be inhabited, though the
foil was good, and abounded with groves of coco-nut-trees.
The account of the impoffibility of anchoring at this Wand occa-
fioned a general melancholy on board, for we confidered it as little
lefs than the prelude to our deftruftion, and our defpondency was
increafed by a difappointment we met with the fucceeding night,
when, as we were plying under top-fails, with an intention of getting
nearer to the Wand, and of fending our boat on fhore to load
with coco-nuts for the refrelhment of our fick, the wind proved
fqually, and blew fo ftrong off fhore, that we were driven too far
to the'fouthward, to venture to fend off our boat. And now the
only poflible circumftance that could fecure the few which remained
alive from perifhing, was the accidental falling in with fome
other of the Ladrone Wands, better prepared for our accommodation,
but as our knowledge of thefe Iflands was extremely imper-
feft/we were to truft entirely to chance for our guidance ., only as
they are all of them ufuallv laid down near the fame meridian, and.
we conceived thofe we had already feen to be part of them, we
concluded to Hand to the fouthward, as the moft probable means o f
difcovering the reft. Thus, with the moft gloomy perfuafion of
our approaching deftrudtion, we flood from the Wand of Anata-
can having all of us the ftrongeft apprehenfions (and thofe not ill
grounded) either of dying by the fcurvy, or of being deftroyed.
with the fhip, which, for want of hands to work her pumps,,
might in a fhort time be expedted to founder.
C H A P .