1?77* As foon as Captain Clerke kn ew , that one o f the ftragglers
December. . . . n - ' ■%. r •
was ilill in this awkwa rd ntuation, he lent a party in learch
o f h im; but neither the man nor the party h a vin g come
Wednef. 31. back, the next morning, I ordered two boats into the lagoon,
to go different ways, in profecution o f the fearch. Not lo n g
after, Captain Clerke’s party returned with their loft companion
; and my boats ha vin g now no objedt left, I called
them back by fignal. T h is poor fe llow muft have fuffered
far greater diftrefs than the other ftra g g le r; not only as
h a v in g been loft a longer time, but as we found that h e
was too fqueamiih to drink turtle’s blood.
Having fome cocoa-nuts and yams on board, in a ftate o f
vegetation, I ordered them to be planted on the little ifland
where we had obferved the eclipfe ; and fome melon-feeds
were fown in another place. I alfo left, on the little ifland,
a bottle containing this infcription :
Georgius Tertius, Rex, 31 Decembris, 177 7 *
NavesSRefolution, Jac. Cook, Pr.
Difcovery, Car. Clerke, Pr.
'77*' On the ift o f January 1778, I fent boats to brin g on board
Thurfda^i. all our parties from the land, and the turtle they had
caught. Before this was completed, it was late in the afternoon
; fo that I did not think proper to fail till next morning.
W e got at this ifland, to both Ihips, about three hundred
turtle, w e igh in g , one with another, about ninety or a hundred
pounds. T h e y were all o f the green k in d ; and perhaps
as good as any in the world. We alfo caught, w ith
hook and line, as much fiih as we could confume, d uring
our ftay. The y confifted principally o f cavallies, o f d ifferent
fiz e s ; large and fmall fnappers j and a few o f two
forts
forts o f ro ck - fifh ; one with numerous fpots o f b lue, and Jawnua8r-y.
the other with w h itiih ftreaks fcattered about. e— —
T h e foil o f tl)is ifland, in fome places, is light and black,
evidently compofed o f decayed vegetables, the d iin g o f birds,
and fand. There are other places again, where nothing
but marine produftions, fuch as broken coral ftones, and
ihells, are to be feen. T he fe are depolited in long, narrow
ridges, ly in g in a parallel direction with'the fea-coaft,
not unlike a ploughed f ie ld ; and muft have been thrown
u p b y the waves, though, at this time, they do not reach
with in a mile o f fome o f thefe places. This feems to
furnifh ah inconteftable proof, that the ifland has been produced
by acceffions from the fea, and is in a ftate o f in-
creafe ; for not only the broken pieces o f coral, but many
o f the ihe lls, are too heavy and large to have been brought
b y any birds, from the beach, to the places where they now
lie. Not a drop o f fre ih water w as any where found, though
frequently d u g for. We met with feveral ponds o f fait
water, which had no vifible communication w ith the fea,
and muft, therefore, in all probability, be filled by the water
filtrating throu gh the fand, in h ig h tides. One o f the loft
men found fome fait on the South Eaft part o f the ifland.
But, though this was an article o f which we were in want,
a man who could lofe himfelf, as he did, and not kn ow
whether he was travelling Eaft, Weft, North, or South, was
not to be depended upon as a fit guide to conduit us to the
place.
There were not the fmalleft traces o f any human being
ha vin g ever been here before us ; and, indeed, fhould any
one be fo unfortunate as to be accidentally driven upon the
illand, or left there, it is hard to fay, that he could be able
B b 2 to