R O U N D T H E W O R L D . 95-
Hergeft to forbear cutting down any o f the cocoa-nut trees as he »792-
had at firft intended to d o ; and he procured by other means as many of .
the- fruit as ferved the whole crew, with five to each perfon.
The landing was but indifferent on account of the furf; but water is
eafily obtained.
After afcertaining the laft mentioned illand to be eight miles long and
two miles broad, and to be fituated in fouth latitude 7*53', longitude
219° 47' eaft, they took leave of thefe illands the next morning; and to
the n.e. of the laft, at the diftanCe of about a league, they difcovered
another, nearly round and much fmaller, with two, iflets lying off its
s;W. point!}, to this was given the name of R o b e r t s ’s I s l a n d .
Mr. Hergeft ftates, that during the time he was amongft thefe iflands
and at the Marquefas, they were fubjeft to frequent heavy fqualls and
much rain. He compares the inhabitants of this group to thofe of the
Marquefas, in colour and in liz e : but in manners, behaviour, drefs,
and ornaments, excepting that of their being lefs punftured, they more
refembled the people of Otaheite and the Society iflands.
On the firft information of the Daedalus having vilited thefe iflands,
1 concluded they had not been feen before, and to commemorate the
difcovery of a very worthy though unfortunate friend and fellow traveller
in my more early periods of navigating thefe feas, I diftinguifhed
the whole group by the name of H e r g e s t ’s I s l a n d s . But I have
fince been informed, that thefe iflands had been difcovered and landed
upon by fome o f the American traders, and that in fine weather the
fouthernmoft is vifible from Hood’s ifland, the mod northern of the Marquefas.
Hence they are confidered by fome as properly appertaining to'
that group, although neither the Spanifh navigator; nor Captain Cook
who vifited the Marquefas after him, had any knowledge of fuch iflands
exifting.
This is the amount of all the information I have been able to colleft
from Mr. Hergeft’s papers refpefting his voyage thus fa r ; the imperfeft
arrangement of which offers an additional caufe, if an additional caufe
could be wanting, to lament the untimely and melancholy fate of that
valuable officer ; who, in feveral interefting particulars in his obfervatibns
qu thefe iflands, refers to documents which I have never feen, and which
would