176 s.
Jane.
King
George’s
iflands.
fented it to them ; this courtefy, however, produced a dif-
agreeable effeft, for he had no fooner given away his-
waiftcoat, than one o f the Indians very ingenioufly untied
his cravat, and the next moment fnatchedit from his neck,
and ran away with it. Our adventurer, therefore, to prevent
his being ftripped by piece-meal, made the belt o f his
way back again to the boat: ftill, however, we were upon
good terms, and feveral of the Indians, twain, off to. our
people, fome o f them bringing a cocoa-nut, and others a
little frefh water in a cocoa-nut Ihell. But the principal
object o f our boats, was to obtain fome pearls; and the-
men, to aflift them in explaining their meaning; had: taken
with them fome of the pearl oyfter fliells which they had
found in great numbers upon the- eoa-ft; but all their endeavours
were ineffectual, for they could not; even with
this afliftance, at all make themfelves underftood. It is
indeed probable that we fhould have fucceeded better, i f an
intercourfe o f any kind could have been eftablifhed between
us, but it was our misfortune that no anchorage could be
found for thelhips. As all Indians are fond o f beads, it can
fcarcely be fuppofed- that the pearls, which the oyfters at
this place contained, were overlooked by the natives, and it
is more than probable that i f we could have continued here
a few weeks, we might have obtained fome o f great value in
exchange for nails, hatchets, and bill-hooks, upon which
the natives,, with more reafon, fet a much higher value.
We obferved, that in the lake, or lagoon, there were two or
three very large veffels, one o f which had. two mafts, and
fome cordage aloft to fupport them.
To thefe two iflands, I gave the name o f K in g George’s
I s l a n d s , in honour o f his Majefty. That which we laft
vifited, lies in latitude 14° 41' S., longitude 149° 15' W. ; the
variation o f the compafs here was c° E..
C H A P .
C H A P . X .
The Run from King Georges lfands to the IJlands of
Saypan, ’Tinian, and Aguigan; with an Account of feveral
lfands that were difcovered in that Track.
WE purfued our courfe to-the weftward the fame day; j a„e.
and the next, about three o’clock in the afternoon, . .
we faw land again, bearing S. S. W . diftant about fix leagues. Thuriaay 13.
We immediately flood for it, and found it to be a low and
very narrow ifland, lying eaft and weft: we ran along the
fouth fide of it, which had a green and pleafant appearance,
but a dreadful furf breaks upon every part of it, with foul
ground at fome diftance, and many rocks and fmall iflands
fcattered at about three leagues from the fliore. We found
it about twenty leagues in length, and it appeared to abound
with inhabitants, though we could get only a tranfient
glance o f them as we pafled along. To this place I gave the
name of the P r in c e o f W a l e s ’ s I s l a n d . It lies in latitude Prince of
150 S. and the weftermoft end of it in longitude 1510 53' W. ^„4/
It is diftant from K ing George’s Iflands about eight and forty
leagues, in the direction o f S. 80 W .; the variation here was
S° 3°' E- .
From the weftern extremity o f this ifland, we fleered N.
82 W. and at noon on the 16th, were in latitude 14° 28' S., Sunday 16.
longitude 136° 23'W .; the variation being 7° 40' E. The
wind was now eafterly, and we had again the fame mountainous
fwell from the fouthward that we had before we
made the Iflands o f Diredtion, and which, from that time to
P a this