re taken, and as many fish as could be consumed; but not a drop
of fresh water could be found. As Christmas was spent here, the name of
Christmas Island was given to the new discovery. It lies in latitude 1
degrees 41 minutes North and longitude 157 degrees 15 minutes East.
Some cocoanuts and yams were planted on the island, and some
melon-seeds; while a bottle was deposited, with the names of the ships
and the date of the visit. The ships sailed thence on January 2, 1778,
and proceeded northward. The wind blew faintly at first, and then
freshened, and albatrosses, with other birds, were seen increasing in
number--all indications of land being near, though none was seen till
the 18th, when first one high island and then another hove in sight. On
the 19th the first seen bore east, several leagues distant, and being to
windward could not be approached. On standing towards the other, a
third island was discovered in the direction of west-north-west. At
first it was doubtful whether the islands were inhabited, but that
question was soon solved by the appearance of several canoes, which came
alongside; but the people in them would not at first venture on board,
though they willingly exchanged a few fish and some sweet potatoes for
nails and other articles offered them. They spoke the language of
Otaheite and of the other islands lately visited. They were of a brown
colour, of an ordinary size, and the cast of their features was not
unlike that of Europeans. Some wore their hair long, others short, but
all had stained it of a brown colour. Some were slightly tattooed, and
all wore the usual girdle, stained red, white, and black. As the ships
sailed along the coast, looking for a harbour, numerous villages were
observed, with plantations of sugar-canes and plantains, while vast
numbers of people crowded the shore, or collected in elevated places, to
watch the ships.

The next day, the ships again standing in, several natives ventured on
board, and showed by the wild looks and gestures with which they
regarded everything on board that they had never before been visited by
Europeans. They knew the value of iron, however, when they saw it, and
it was supposed that they had gained their knowledge of it from the fact
that the masts and spars of a ship with iron attached, and casks with
iron hoops, had been cast on their shore. They soon proved themselves
to be daring thieves, and unhappily, a boat being sent on shore,