ept off and
on all night. The night was extremely dark; and the next morning at
day-break, we found that a current had set us considerably to the
southward of the island, and brought us within sight of two more. They
were situated nearly east and west of each other, and were distant about
two miles. That to the eastward is much the smallest, and this we called
_Simpson's Island_; to the other, which is lofty, and has a stately
appearance, we gave the name of _Carteret's Island_. The east end of it
bears about south from Gower's island, and the distance between them is
about ten or eleven leagues. Carteret's Island lies in about the
latitude of 8 deg. 26' S. longitude 159 deg. 14' E. and its length from east to
west is about six leagues. We found the variation here 8 deg. 30' E. Both
these islands were right to windward of us, and we bore down to Gower's
Island. It is about two leagues and a half long on the western side,
which makes in bays: The whole is well wooded, and many of the trees are
cocoa-nut. We found here a considerable number of the Indians, with two
boats or canoes, which we supposed to belong to Carteret's Island, and
to have brought the people hither only to fish. We sent the boat on
shore, which the natives endeavoured to cut off; and hostilities being
thus commenced, we seized their canoe, in which we found about an
hundred cocoa-nuts, which were very acceptable. We saw some turtle near
the beach, but were not fortunate enough to take any of them. The canoe,
or boat, was large enough to carry eight or ten men, and was very neatly
built, with planks well jointed; it was adorned with shell-work, and
figures rudely painted, and the seams were covered with a substance
somewhat like our black putty, but it appeared to me to be of a better
consistence. The people were armed with bows, arrows, and spears; the
spears and arrows were pointed with flint. By some signs which they
made, pointing to our muskets, we imagined they were not wholly
unacquainted with fire-arms. They are much the same kind of people as we
had seen at Egmont island, and, like them, were quite naked; but their
canoes were of a very different structure, and a much larger size,
though we did not discover that any of them had sails. The cocoa-nuts
which we got here, and at Egmont island, were of infinite advantage to
the sick.

From the time of our leaving Egmont island, we had observed a current
setting strongly to the southward, and in the