a coral sand; the point of Lefooga bearing S.E. by E.
a mile and a half distant. The Discovery did not get to an anchor till
sunset. She had touched upon one of the shoals, but backed off again
without receiving any damage.

As soon as we had anchored, I sent Mr Bligh to sound the bay where we
were now stationed; and myself, accompanied by Mr Gore, landed on the
southern part of Lefooga, to examine the country, and to look for fresh
water. Not that we now wanted a supply of this article, having filled
all the casks at our late station; but I had been told that this part of
the island could afford us some preferable to any we had got at the
former watering-place. This will not be the only time I shall have
occasion to remark that these people do not know what good water is. We
were conducted to two wells, but the water in both of them proved to be
execrable, and the natives, our guides, assured us that they had none
better.

Near the S. end of the island, and on the W. side, we met with an
artificial mount. From the size of some trees that were growing upon it,
and from other appearances, I guessed that it had been raised in remote
times. I judged it to be about forty feet high, and the diameter of its
summit measured fifty feet. At the bottom of this mount stood a stone,
which must have been hewn out of coral rock. It was four feet broad, two
and a half thick, and fourteen high; and we were told by the natives
present that not above half its length appeared above ground. They
called it _Tangata Arekee_,[163] and said that it had been set up, and
the mount raised, by some of their forefathers, in memory of one of
their kings, but how long since they could not tell.

[Footnote 163: _Tangata,_ in their language, is man; _Arekee_, king.]

Night coming on, Mr Gore and I returned on board; and, at the same time,
Mr Bligh got back from sounding the bay, in which he found from fourteen
to twenty fathoms water, the bottom for the most part sand, but not
without some coral rocks. The place where we now anchored is much
better sheltered than that which we had lately come from; but between
the two is another anchoring station, much better than either. Lefooga
and Hoolaiva are divided from each other by a reef of coral rocks, which
is dry at low water; so that one may walk at that time from the one to
the other, without wetting a foot. Some of our gentlemen, who landed in
the latter island, did not find the least mark of cultivat