and Monsieur de Pages, which present us
with the following particulars:--"That they arrived on the west side of
this land on the 14th of December, 1773; that steering to the N.E., they
discovered, on the 16th, the Isle de Reunion, and the other small
islands as mentioned above; that, on the 17th, they had before them the
principal land, (which they were sure was connected with that seen by
them on the 14th,) and a high point of that land, named by them Cape
Francois; that beyond this cape, the coast took a south-easterly
direction, and behind it they found a bay, called by them Baie de
l'Oiseau, from the name of their frigate; that they then endeavoured to
enter it, but were prevented by contrary winds and blowing weather,
which drove them off the coast eastward; but that, at last, on the 6th
of January, Monsieur de Rosnevet, captain of the Oiseau, was able to
send his boat on shore into this bay, under the command of Monsieur de
Rochegude, one of his officers, who took possession of that bay, and of
all the country, in the name of the King of France, with all the
requisite formalities."

Here then we trace, by the most unexceptionable evidence, the history of
the bottle and inscription; the leaving of which was, no doubt, one of
the requisite formalities observed by Monsieur de Rochegude on this
occasion. And though he did not land till the 6th of January 1774, yet,
as Kerguelen's ships arrived upon the coast on the 14th of December
1773, and had discovered and looked into this very bay on the 17th of
that month, it was with the strictest propriety and truth that 1773, and
not 1774, was mentioned as the date of the discovery.

We need only look at Kerguelen's and Cook's charts, to judge that the
Baie de l'Oiseau, and the harbour where the French inscription was
found, is one and the same place. But besides this agreement as to the
general position, the same conclusion results more decisively still,
from another circumstance worth mentioning: The French, as well as the
English visitors of this bay and harbour, have given us a particular
plan of it; and whoever compares them, must be struck with a resemblance
that could only be produced by copying one common original with
fidelity. Nay, even the soundings are the same upon the same spots in
both plans, being forty-five fathoms between the two capes, before the
entrance of the bay; sixteen fathoms farther in, where the shores begin
to contract; and eight fathoms up, near