1765. this day we had loft: when we loft that fwell, and for fome
. _1 days before, we faw vaft flocks o f birds, which we obferved
Sunday 1 . aiwayS too];; their flight to the fouthward when evening was
coming on. Thefe appearances perfuaded me that there
was land in the fame direction, and I am o f opinion, that i f
the winds had not failed me in the higher latitudes, I fhould
have fallen in with i t : I would indeed at this time have
hauled away to the fouthward, and attempted the difcovery,
i f our people had been healthy, for having obferved that all
the iflands we had feen were full o f inhabitants, I was ftill
more confirmed in my opinion; as I could account for their
being peopled only by fuppofing a chain of iflands reaching
to a continent; but the ficknefs o f the crews, in both fhips,
was an infuperable impediment.
Monday 17. The next day, we again faw many birds o f various forts
about the lhip, and therefore fuppofed that fome other ifland
was not far diftant, for the fwell continuing, I concluded
that the land was not of very great extent: I proceeded, however,
with caution, for the iflands in this part o f the ocean
render the navigation very dangerous, they being fo low,
that a lhip may be clofe in w ith them before they are feen.
Tnefday 18. We faw nothing, however, on the 18th, the igth, nor the
Thuriday'ze. 2°(h, during which we continued to fleer th.e fame courfie,
though the birds ftill continued about the veflel in great
numbers. Our latitude was now 13° 33'S>, longitude 167'
47'W. The Prince of Wales’s Ifland was diftant three hundred
and thirteen leagues, and the variation o f the needle
Zntyir. was 9° 1 5 E- The next morning, about feven o’clock, we
difcovered a moft -dangerous reef o f breakers, bearing
S. S, W. and not farther diftant than a Angle league. In
about half an hour afterwards, land was feen from the
mail-head, bearing W.N. W. and diftant about eight leagues.-
it had the appearance of three iflands, with rocks and broken
ground
ground between them. The fouth eaft fide o f thefe iflands
lies N. E. by N. and S. W. by S. and is about three leagues in
length between the extream points, from both which a reef
runs out, ttpon which the fea breaks to a tremendous height.
We failed round the north end, and upon the north weft
and weft fide, faw innumerable rocks and Ihoals, which-
ftretched near two leagues into the fea, and were extremely
dangerous. The iflands themfelves had a more fertile-and’
beautiful appearance than any we had feen before, and, like
the reft, fwarmed with people, whofe habitations we faw
Handing in clufters all along the coaft. We faw alfo a large
veflel under fail, at a little diftance from the fhore; but to
our unfpeakable regret we were obliged to leave the place
without farther examination, for it was furrounded in every
direftion by rocks and breakers, which rendered the hazard
more than equivalent to every advantage we 'might procure.
At this time, I took thefe for part o f the iflands called Solomon’s
Iflands, and was in hopes that I fhould fa ll in with
others of them, in fome o f which we might find an harbour.
Friday 21.
The reef o f rocks which we firft faw as we approached
thefe iflands, lies in latitude 10° 15' S., longitude 169° 38'W.
and it bears from Prince o f Wales’s Ifland N. 76° 48' W.
diftant 352 leagues. The iflands bear from the reef W. N.-W.
diftant nine leagues: I called them the I s l a n d s o f D a n g e r ,
and fleered from them N. W. by W. allowing for the variation.
After having feen the breakers foon after it was light in:
the morning, I told my officers that I apprehended we fhould
have frequent alarms in the nigh t;, at night, therefore,,
every body was upon the watch, which a very hard fquall of
wind, with rain, rendered the more neceflary. About nine-
o’clock, having juft gone down into my cabbin, I heard a-.
7 great;