ned.

About six in the evening, it being then dark, the boats returned, and
the master told me, that all within the reef was rocky, but that in two
or three places, at about two cables' length without it, there was
anchorage in eighteen, fourteen, and twelve fathom, upon sand and coral.
The breach in the reef he found to be about sixty fathom broad, and
here, if pressed by necessity, he said a ship might anchor or moor in
eight fathom; but that it would not be safe to moor with a greater
length than half a cable.

When I had hoisted the boats in, I ran down four miles to leeward, where
we lay till the morning; and then, finding that the current had set us
out of sight of the island, I made sail. The officers did me the honour
to call this island after my name. _Wallis's Island_ lies in latitude
13 deg. 18' S. longitude 177 deg. W.

As the latitudes and longitudes of all these islands are accurately laid
down, and plans of them delivered in to the Admiralty, it will be easy
for any ship, that shall hereafter navigate these seas, to find any of
them, either to refresh or to make farther discoveries of their produce.

I thought it very remarkable, that although we found no kind of metal in
any of these islands, yet, the inhabitants of all of them, the moment
they got a piece of iron in their possession, began to sharpen it, but
made no such attempt on brass or copper.

We continued to steer N. westerly, and many birds were from time to
time seen about the ship, till the 28th, when her longitude being, by
observation, 187 deg.24'W. we crossed the Line into north latitude. Among
the birds that came about the ship, one which we caught exactly
resembled a dove in size, shape, and colour. It had red legs, and was
web-footed. We also saw several plantain leaves and cocoa-nuts pass by
the ship.

On Saturday the 29th, about two o'clock in the afternoon, being in
latitude 2 deg.50'N. longitude 188 deg.W. we crossed a great rippling, which
stretched from the N.E. to the S.W. as far as the eye could reach from
the mast-head. We sounded, but had no bottom with a line of two hundred
fathoms.

On Thursday the 3d of September, at five o'clock in the morning, we saw
land bearing E.N.E. distant about five miles: In about half an hour we
saw more land in the N. W. and at six, saw in the N.E. an Indian proa,
such as is described in the account of Lord Anson's voyage. Perceiving
that she stood towards us, we hoisted Spanish colours; b