nd not more than six miles distant; soon after, breakers
were seen on the starboard quarter, and on the beam, extending in
the direction of east-south-east and west-north-west five leagues
distant: at eleven, breakers were seen on the larboard beam, in
different patches about two miles long, and lying parallel to
those on the starboard side.

On this we brought to, and sounded with 130 fathoms of line,
but had no ground. This had the appearance of a dangerous cluster
of shoals, for being situated in a climate where it seldom blows
so strong as to raise a large sea, a ship might in the night,
without a very good look-out, be in very great danger before they
could be perceived: they appeared to be sand shoals, and very
little below the surface: the passage we sailed through is in
latitude 6 deg. 52' south, and longitude 161 deg. 06' east: these
patches should not be crossed in the night: I called them
Bradley's Shoals. The variation was here 8 deg. 01' east.

On the 14th, at day-light in the morning, we saw land, and at
sunrise we observed this land to be a number of islands; some
were of considerable extent, and many of a smaller size.
Thirty-two were distinctly counted from the mast-head, bearing
from north-west half north to north-east half east; many of them
were considerably distant, so far as to make it probable that we
did not see the whole of this extensive groupe. At ten o'clock we
perceived six or seven canoes coming off, with large triangular
sails; a little after noon, one of them, with nine men in it,
came up with us, although we did not shorten sail: we could not
persuade them to come along-side, or touch the ship, but we threw
a few beads and nails, and other trifles, into their boat, with
which they appeared much pleased; and in return, they threw some
pieces of cocoa-nut on board; at one o'clock a fresh breeze
sprung up, and they left us. The men in this boat were a stout,
clean, well made people, of a dark copper colour; their hair was
tied in a knot on the back of their head, and they seemed to have
some method of taking off their beards; for they appeared to us
as if clean shaved, but they had an ornament, consisting of a
number of fringes, like an artificial beard, which was fastened
on between the nose and mouth, and close under the nose; to that
beard hung a row of teeth, which gave them the appearance of
having a mouth lower than their natural one; they had holes run
through the sides of the no