February. ^ar t0 fouth, obliged us to make a much more wefterly courfe than I
'----v----- could have wifhed, as I had entertained hopes of being able to pals
near enough to the Gallipagos iflands to have had an opportunity of
afcertaining their true fituation ; but as the wefternmoft-of them are faid
to be under the meridian of the ifland of Cocos, which, was now nearly
three degrees to the eaftward of us, the chance of fucceeding in this expedition
was now fo little, , that I gave up every idea .of accomplifh-
ing that objeft.
Land was difcovered on monday forenoon to the w. s. w . ; it then appeared
to be a very, fmall illand, which at noon bore by compafs s. 72 w „
8 or 9 leagues diltant. As our obferved latitude was i° 26', longitude
268° 43', and the variation of the compafs 8*eaftwardly,. we appeared to
have been fet in the courfe of the Iaft twenty-four hours 10 miles' to the
north', and 28 miles to the weftward. The influence of this current fet-
ting to the w. n. w. was very perceptible, for although with a light air
o f wind during the afternoon our courfe was direfied to the fouth-weft-
ward, yet fo rapidly were we driven in the above dirediion of the current,
that, at fun-fet, this ifland bore by compafs s. 46 w., and another
ifland, which had been difcovered about an hour and an half before,
bore, at the fame time; N. 72 w . During the night we had a light
breeze from the s.s.w., with which we flood to the s.e . ; but fo far were
Tuefday 3. we from Hemming the current, that, at day-light on the following morning,
the firft of thefe iflands bore by compafs s. 68 e ., diftant 6 leagues,
and the fecond N. 17 w „ 12 miles diftant. At fuch a rate had we been
driven by the current between thefe iflands, that, notwithftanding we
tried every endeavour to preferve our ftation by keeping as the wind'
veered on the moft advantageous tacks, yet, at noon, the firft ifland bore
by compafs e. by s., at the diftance of 9 leagues, and the other n.n.e. -h e.,
at the diftance of 1.7 miles- In this fituation the obferved latitude was
i° 28', longitude 267° 49', by which the current appeared to have fet us,
fince the preceding day at noon, ten miles to the north, and fifty miles to
1 the weftward.
In palling between thefe iflands, which lie from each other n . 42 w.
and s. 42 e . , at the diftance of twenty-one miles, we obferved neither
dariger
danger nor obftruftion; the fouthernmoft, which is the largeft, did not ‘ 795-
0 . . . . 0 February,
appear to exceed four miles in circuit, and the northernmoft about half 1___ ■ *
a league ; the former is fituated in latitude 1° 22' 30", and longitude 268°
16'. Its north-weftern fide forms a kind of long faddle hill, the northern
part of which is Kigheft in the middle, and fhoots out into a low
point, which at firft fight was confidered by us to be an iflet, but was
afterwards believed to be united. A fmall peaked neck or iflet lies off
its fouth-weft fide, which, like all the other parts of it, excepting that
towards the north, is compofed of perpendicular naked rocky cliffs. On
the low north-weft part we Taw what we fuppofed to be trees, but we
were by no means certain, for the ifland in general prefented'to us a very
dreary and unproduftive appearance. The northernmoft ifland rofe in
naked cliffs from the- fea, off which are two fmall iflets, or rocks ; that bn
its eaft fide: is remarkable for its flat table top, and for its being perforated
nearly in the middle. The fituation of thefe iflands, the eaftern-
moft being nearly 5° to'the weftward of the meridian of the ifland of Cocos,
gave us at firft reafon to fuppofe them a new difeovery, and not a
part of the group of the Gallipagos, as all the ancient accounts agree in
placing the Cocos due north from the wefternmoft of that duller of
iflands ; but when we took into confideration the very rapid currents by
which we had been controlled, they eafily accounted for errors to which
other navigators muft neceflarily have been fubjefted, who have not, like
ouffelves, been fo well provided with the means of afcertaining the full
effeft of their influence; which had, fince ;our leaving that'ifland, produced
a difagreement of upwards of two degrees of longitude in our dead
reckoning. The decifion of this point remained, therefore, to be determined
by our further progrefs to the fouth ; for, in the event of the firft
or fouthernmoft, being Wenman’s ifland, and the moft northern, that
called Culpepper’s ifland, the northernmoft of that group of iflands, little
doubt was entertained of our meeting with more of them in purfuing
our fouthern courfe ; in doing which we were not very expeditious the
two fucceeding days, as the wind between s.s.w . and s . s . e . was very
variable in point of ftrength ; and although we endeavoured to take every
advantage it afforded, fo little progrefs did we make againft the adverfe
3 C 2 current,