FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70  
71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   >>   >|  
r. From pretty huts of plaited reeds, under the shade of bread-fruit trees, the women, some of them with children in their arms, were flying to conceal themselves in the forest. Such was the commotion our appearance occasioned in this little community. A few heroes summoned courage enough to advance, with threatening attitudes, to the margin of the shore; but no single canoe, though many lay on the coast, ventured to approach us. Judging from their size and the good arrangement of their sails, these canoes seem intended for visits to other and even distant islands. We sailed quite round our new discovery without finding any haven by which we could effect a landing; and the sea being tempestuous, with a high and boisterous surf, we were compelled to renounce our desire of becoming more intimately acquainted with the Predpriatians. The unclouded sky enabled us, nevertheless, to determine by observation the exact latitude and longitude of this little island, whose greatest extent is only four miles from E.N.E. to W.S.W. The latitude of its central point is 15 deg. 58' 18" South, and its longitude, 140 deg. 11' 30". The variation of the needle was 4 deg. East. When we had finished our observations, I steered a westerly course for the island of Araktschief, discovered in the year 1819 by the Russian Captain Bellingshausen, in order to convince myself that it was actually not the one we had just quitted. At four o'clock in the afternoon we could already see this island from the mast-head, and we reached it before sunset. It bears, with respect to size and circumstances, so close a resemblance to that of Predpriatie, that they might easily be mistaken, if their relative situations were not exactly known. From our observation, we found the latitude of the centre of the island of Araktschief 15 deg. 51' 20" South; and the longitude 140 deg. 50' 50". According to Captain Bellingshausen's chart, the latitude is 15 deg. 51', the longitude 140 deg. 52'. Unable to discover any traces of inhabitants on this island, we should have supposed there were none, had not Captain Bellingshausen ascertained the contrary. At night we retired to some distance from the island and lay-to, that we might not, in the darkness, strike on any unknown land. At break of day I steered a north-west course, to see the island of Romanzow, (which I had formerly discovered when with the ship Rurik,) and convince myself of the accuracy of the astronomica
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   46   47   48   49   50   51   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70  
71   72   73   74   75   76   77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

island

 

latitude

 
longitude
 

Captain

 

Bellingshausen

 

observation

 

steered

 

Araktschief

 

discovered

 

convince


reached
 

afternoon

 

sunset

 

resemblance

 

Predpriatie

 

flying

 

conceal

 

respect

 

circumstances

 

occasioned


Russian

 

westerly

 

observations

 

community

 

appearance

 

easily

 

forest

 

commotion

 

quitted

 
darkness

strike

 
unknown
 

distance

 

retired

 

ascertained

 

contrary

 

accuracy

 

astronomica

 

Romanzow

 

supposed


centre

 

mistaken

 

relative

 

situations

 

According

 

traces

 

inhabitants

 
discover
 

Unable

 

finished