hat could make
it worth my while to stay longer; for the water which we had sent on board,
was not much better than if it had been taken up out of the sea.[6]

We had a calm till ten o'clock in the morning of the 16th, when a breeze
sprung up at west, accompanied with heavy showers of rain, which lasted
about an hour. The weather then clearing up, we got under sail, stood to
sea, and kept plying to and fro, while an officer was sent on shore with
two boats, to purchase such refreshments as the natives might have brought
down; for I judged this would be the case, as they knew nothing of our
sailing. The event proved that I was not mistaken; for the boats made two
trips before night, when we hoisted them in, and made sail to the N.W.,
with a light breeze at N.N.E.

[1] "The joy which this fortunate event spread on every countenance,
is scarcely to be described. We had been one hundred and three days
out of sight of land; and the rigorous weather to the south, the
fatigues of continual attendance during storms, or amidst dangerous
masses of ice, the sudden changes of climate, and the long continuance
of a noxious diet, all together had emaciated and worn out our crew.
The expectation of a speedy end to their sufferings, and the hope of
finding the land stocked with abundance of fowls and planted with
fruits, according to the accounts of the Dutch navigator, now filled
them with uncommon alacrity and cheerfulness."--G.F.

Captain Cook was much indebted for now falling in with this island, to
the superior means he possessed of ascertaining his longitude. Byron,
Carteret, and Bouganville, all missed it, although they took their
departure from no greater a distance than the islands of Juan
Fernandez. Most of the writers who mention Easter Island, agree pretty
well together as to its latitude, but the Spanish accounts are not less
than thirty leagues erroneous as to its longitude.--E.

[2] See this in vol. XI. p. 95 of this collection; but the description
afterwards given is much more satisfactory.--E.

[3] "He was of the middle size, about five feet eight inches high, and
remarkably hairy on the breast, and all over the body. His colour was
a chesnut brown, his beard strong, but clipped short, and of a black
colour, as was also the hair of his head, which was likewise cut
short. His ears were very long, almost hanging on his sh