cs, and especially as coming from the west; but it appears that
this year was quite out of the ordinary course, and produced a number of
strange phenomena of which we heard complaints wherever we went.

The weather, after treating us so ill, again became friendly, and the
remainder of our voyage proceeded swiftly and favourably under the
magnificent tropical sky: agreeable it was sure to be; for the peculiar
charm of a sail between the tropics is appreciated by all seamen. An old
English captain, with whom I became acquainted during this voyage,
assured me that he could imagine no greater luxury for the remainder of
his life, than to possess a good quick-sailing ship, to keep a good
table, and to sail between the tropics, without ever making land. I
cannot, I confess, altogether participate in this true seaman-like
taste: on my voyages, the mere sight of land has always been my great
source of pleasure. The conduct of a vessel through distant seas, and
through its conflicts with the variable element, is not indeed an
uninteresting occupation; but the object which has always chiefly
attracted my inclinations, is an intimate knowledge of various countries
and their inhabitants; and I have always considered the time spent at
sea, as a necessary hardship submitted to with this reward in view.
Perhaps I was not born for a sailor: an accident, by no means calculated
upon in my previous education, made me such in my fifteenth year.

We sailed in the night past O Wahi, the principal of the Sandwich group,
with its celebrated giant mountain Mou-na-roa. At break of day on the
13th, we saw in the west the elevated island of Muwe, and continued our
course along the northern shore of this and its neighbour Morotai, to
Wahu, where we intended to land. The landscape of a tropical country is
always pleasing, even when, as here, high lava hills, and masses of
sometimes naked rocks piled like towers upon each other, form the
principal features of the coast, at first inspiring the navigator with
doubts of its fertility. But how agreeably is he surprised, on reaching
the southern shores of these islands, to meet with the most smiling
scenery, and most luxuriant vegetation. In the middle of the channel,
between the islands Muwe and Morotai, lie two small uninhabited islands,
which, strange to say, are not marked on Vancouver's map. We took some
pains to ascertain their exact situation.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the high yellow roc