Jucfcy in the feearch; ok »the gerieral accounts, of its situation
must havetefem; dêfoslive, It isirnostdikely^afc,
t h a l vessels might ftSve missed the rqck,
they would have tdubhSd I the shoals, ■which’; fife represented
j to liexteod fróm it .-to the neighbouEhoq<l ?pf the
Nanka isles, bf, i which," however, , they, :pycejyed|;np
trace. The squadron continued-dts; route, and 1 Q M
the line on the tenth of May, in longitude one hundred
andfivedegrees forty-eight minutes;east., Sir-Erasmus
mentions ithat‘‘ the observations at noon discovered that
«.* s current hadketjtbeships- half-^degree tp thejiorth-
“ ,W&rd ;Kwhich eirciimstartcO was to he eypected^l^jP
‘‘ the aecounts-giffen,in Mr. DtmnïStïïiïe^YY^?^v^he
same author adds, indeed, -that' at
likewise to the- westward; hut on making -lMb^R4
of Puk Linpn» it -was found that i t fhad really,!§£t
east-north-east twenty'-seven mikes- in the. twet|ty?dnur
hours. ' . W i r A li.
The equinoctial: line
considerable island, remarkable .ffor a mountaiiahin its
efetiferd,i teiyainating. in a fork like1 Parnassus;r.bpb fe>
whieh the unpoeticaf seamen bestow the name of asspsi
ears.. Every day presented new islandsrto the view,
displaying I a: vast variety in form, size,; and colour.
Some isolated, and some collected in clusters-.. Many
were clothed with verdure; some had tall treesc growing
on them* others were mere rocks, the resort of innumerable
birds, and, widened? with their dung. -The
w.e®eM^,wast^f^bhhi(n this ipasfa^^scj^hal-lyvKvith thun- - ■ ■ —
de^tdightninig,,. i andb h&avyi rain^idEhOi squadron-’was
frequently ehfigedtip anejpon ; TBelsea: wai^v Seldom deeper
than^eighfei fabh4^%^^hrerd4f|f’s' thermometer'was
f r o g h t y - ; f o u r t @t-ni rie t y. d§grgfj||n the shade! ;r and the
heQ.tfSometimesrisojQMerbomingj.thadi^sw eitheB of the pas1
senger.sybdteiewS? eiqoiyedslpeB^cfesIeakE^vS'onie of the
passpng^^sR^nesvedjfSotni,«^^ ship t® the - otbjer „-by Way
Of’ wbi-ibh® was*:not! entirely ajsele.sS).-.Several of
therseansife®fwereM.afflicted*awiths&a3 dysentery! - which,
being,centagiousj^wtaSiblarminli^'thei^l^tYand-lol^-fittle
h d p ^ S itsj^ ik i^ -subdued;;. until! .the ?d3seaspdiwere'ire-
m^ReddromHhe\sbi.psfJtods0mecbnvep|g^tS's|ilt-e, * w hieh
m ightea^Bdigp.O;dAir'J and f^ h p r o v is i# ish .-?>
h a^ fcd -^ id a n d of, iCqndere had tbe;advan|l;gfdf con-
venitenteasachprin g-p^laees in^ekh&r/ mon'spdw% and^.ao|;
^prdin’gly .ifehe sqpfidrdn -stopped !fcte|ie#on the Sfev.eid
febnthjQ-f May-j - iri* a^,aeious$l|^y#ri the !da%@r% si|fe Of
thSi »island ;: andf 'c-am^ to anchor' attlthoi'ehtranceI of|its
^PiUtheTOs^h:emity?-ias4the' water S'ho^.l'ed^ihqEef/todfive
-fft.fcVifiirhs*1*0da halfMccasionedjibMa'tbank Which strfetches
^ « o ss tsWQ-thirds of the entrance. It Wav found1 afterwards
,,th'ah'.heyond the^aiAjhere i-^4adsafe^p^ssage|Yo
the innehpart of the bays! theh©l?thPof which* is sheltered
by? a-, small, iskncklyingifd?the^ba®pvvtard> i The; whole ■ of
the -bayyisk-formed by? foupsm-al-l.'islandsi5. which approach
■ iH P I