obfervation. T h e ik y was over-call, till pad nine o’clock,
when the clouds about the fun difperfed long enough to
tak e its altitude, to re ctify the time by the watch we made
•ufe of. A fte r this, it was again obfcured, till about thirty
minutes paft n ine; and then w e found, that the eclipfe was
b e gu n . We now fixed the micrometers to the telefcopes,
and obferved, or meafured, the uneclipfed part o f the fun’s
diik. At thefe obfervations, I continued about three-quarters
o f an hou r before the end, w h en I le ft o f f ; being,- in faft',.
en a b le to continue them longer, on account o f the great
heat o f the fun, increafed by the reflection from the fand.
T h e fun was clouded at t im e s ; but it was clear, when
the eclipfe ended, the time o f w h ich was obferved as
"follow s:
H . M . S ,
I Mr. Bayly 1 f o s i j 1
B y } Mr. K in g > at < o. i b Apparent T im e P. M.
¿M y fe lf J ( o 25 37 J
Mr. Bayly and I obferved with the la rge achromatic telefcopes
; and Mr. K in g w ith a reflector. As Mr. B a yly ’s tele-
fcope and mine were o f the fame m a gn ify in g power, I
o u g h t not to have differed fo much from him as I did. Perhaps,
it was, in parr, i f not w h o lly, ow in g to a protuberance
in the moon, w hich efcaped my notice, but was feen
b y both the other gentlemen.
In the afternoon, the boats and tu r tlin g party, at the
South Eaft part o f the ifland, all returned on board, except
a feaman be lon gin g to the Difcovery, who had been miffing
two days. There were two o f them at firft, wh® had loft
their w a y ; but difagreeing about the moftprobable track .to
.bring them ba ck to their companions, they had feparated s
and
and one o f them joined the party, after ha vin g been ab- w?-
J 1 1 0 December.
fent twenty-four hours, and been in great diftrefs. Not ' — ‘
a drop o f freih- water could be had, for there is none upon
the whole iiland ; nor was there a fingle cocoa-nut tree on
that part o f it. In order to allay his thirft, he had recourfe
to the lingular expedient o f k illin g turtle, and drinking
their blood. His mode o f re fre lhing himfelf, when weary,
o f which he faid he felt the good effedts, was equ ally whim-
fical. He undreffed himfelf, and la y down for fome time in
the (hallow water upon the beach.
It was a matter o f furprize to every one, how thefe two
men could contrive to lofe themfelves. T he land over which
they had to travel, from the fea-coaft to the lagoon, where
the boats lay, was not more than three miles acrofs ; nor
was there any thin g to obftruft their v ie w ; for the country
was a flat, with a few Ihrubs fcattered upon i t ; and, from
many parts o f it, the mails o f the fhips could eafily be feen.
But this was a rule o f diredtion they never once thought o f ;
nor did they recolledt in what quarter o f the ifland the ihips
had anch ored; and they were as much at a lofs how to get
ba ck to them, or to the party they had ftraggled from, as i f
they had but ju il dropped from the clouds. Coniidering
how ftrange a fet o f beings the generality o f feamen are,
when on ihore, inftead o f being furprized that thefe two
men fhould thus lofe their way, it is rather to be wondered
at, that no' more o f the party were miffing. Indeed, one
o f thofe who landed with me, was in a fimilar fituation; but
he had fagacity enough to kn ow that the ihips were to leeward,
and got on board almoil as foon as it was) difcovered
that he had been left behind.