Fresh gales and Clowdy. at 1/2 past 2 PM got up with the East end of the land seen yesterday at Noon, and which prov'd to be an assemblage of Islands join'd together by Reefs, and extending themselves N_^^WEBN & SEBS in length 8 or 9 Leagues and of various breadths, but there appear'd to be a total Seperation in the Mid[dl]e by a Channell of half a Mile broad, and on this account _^ ^they are called the two Groups. The SEermost of them lies in the Latitude of 18°..12' and Longitude of 142°..42' West from Greenwich, and W1/2N distant 25 Leagues from the West end of Bow Island —

We rainged along the SW side of these Islands and hauld into a Bay which lies to the NW of the Southermost point of them, and where there appear'd to be anchorage and the Sea was smooth and not much surf on the shore, but we found no ground with 100 fathoms 3/4 of a Mile from the Shore and nearer we did not go. Here several of the Inhabitants assembled together with their Canoes with a design, as we thought, to come off to us as they hauld one of them over the reef seemingly for that purpose.   but after waiting near half an hour and they not attempting to come off we bore away and made sail, and presently the a Canoe put off after us, but as we did not stop, they soon went back again- They were in all respects like those we had seen on Lagoon Island and arm'd with clubs and Long pikes like them —

At 1/2 past 6 AM, saw a small Island to the northward, hauld our wind for it and soon got close in with it-  it is about 3 or 4 Miles in circuit and very low with a pond in the middle    there is some wood upon it but no Inhabitants but birds and for this reason is call'd Bird Island. It lies in the Lat 17° 48' and Long^d 143°..35'W^t and W1/2N 10 Leagu[e]s from the West end of the two Groups; the birds we saw about were Men of war Birds and several other sorts —

Voyaging Accounts