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Thurfday.15
realized. It ihould feem, that fome of them, at leaft, may
have been formed, as we fuppofed Palmerfton’s Ifland to
have been ; for there is one, which, as yet, is entirely fand,
and another, on which there is only one bulh, or tree.
At four o’clock in the afternoon being the length of
Kotoo, the Wefternmolt of the above duller of fmall iflands,
we fleered to the North, leaving Toofoa and Kao on our larboard,
keeping along the Weft fide of a reef of rocks, which
lie to the Wéftwardof Kotoo, till we came to their Northern
extremity, round which we hauled in for the ifland. It was
our intention to have anchored for the night ; hut it came
upon us before we could find a place in lefs than fifty-
five fathoms water ; and rather than come to in this depth,
I chofe to fpend the night under fail.
We had, in the afternoon, been within two leagues of
Toofoa, the fmoke of which we faw feveral times in the
day. The Friendly Iflanders have fome fuperftitious notions
about the volcano upon it, which they call Kollofeea, and fay
it is an Otooa, or divinity. According to their account, it
fometimes throws up very large ftones ; and they compare
the crater, to the fize of a fmall illor, which has never ceafed
fmoking in their memory ; nor have they any tradition
that it ever did. We fometimes faw the fmoke riling from
the centre of the ifland, while we wgre at Annamooka,
though at the diltance of at leaft ten leagues. Toofoa, we
were told, is hut thinly inhabited, but the water upon it
is good.
At day-break the next morning, being then not far from
Kao, which is a vail rock of a conic figure, we fleered to
the Ealt, for the paflage between the iflands Footooha and
Hafaiva, with a gentle breeze at South Eaft. About ten
o’clock, Feenou came on board, and remained with us all
day.
day. He brought with him two hogs, and a quantity o f 1 7 7 7 .
fru it; and, in the courfe of the day, feveral canoes, from » ,■
the different iflands round us, came to barter quantities of
the latter article, which was very acceptable, as our flock
was nearly expended. At noon, our latitude was 19° 49' 45''
South, and we had made feven miles of longitude from Annamooka;
Toofoa bore North, 88” Weft; Kao North, 71° Weft;
Footooha North, 89° Weft; and Hafaiva South, 12" Weft.
After palling Footooha, we met with a reef o f rocks; and,
as there was but little wind, it coft us fome trouble to keep
clear of them. This reef lies between Footooha and Neeneeva,
which is a fmall low ifle, in the direction of Eaft North Eaft
from Footooha, at the diftance o f feven or eight miles.
Footooha is a fmall ifland, of middling height, and bounded
allround by a fteep rock. It lies South 67° Eaft, diftant fix •
leagues from Kao, and three leagues from Kotoo, in the
direction of North 33” Eaft. Being pall the reef o f rocks
juft mentioned, we hauled up for Neeneeva, in hopes of
finding anchorage; hut were again difappoirited, and
obliged to fpend the night, making fhort boards- For*
although we had land in every direction, the fea was unfathomable.
In the courfe of this night, we could plainly fee flames
ifluing from the volcano upon Toofoa, though to no great
height.
At day-break in the morning of the 16th, with a gentle Friday 16.
breeze at South Eaft, we fleered North Eaft for Hapaee,
which was now in fight; and we eould judge it to- be low
land, from the trees only appearing above the water. About
nine o’clock, we could fee it plainly forming three iflands,
nearly of an equal fize; and foon after, a fourth to the
Southward!