and beautiful
country, moderately high, its meadows or low lands, by the sea,
exceedingly green, and the interior well provided with trees. They
coasted along this island for a whole day without reaching its
extremity, yet noticed that it extended semi-circularly towards the
island of Groninguen, so that those which they took for islands might
be contiguous lands, and both of them parts of the _Terra Australis
incognita_.

[Footnote 7: There must be here an enormous error in the text; Coccos
and Traitor's islands are almost directly west from Recreation
island, and the northermost of the Society islands, supposed to be the
Bowman's islands of the text, and not less than 23 deg.10' farther west
than these last, or 463 marine leagues, which could not well be run in
less than a week or ten days.--E.]

[Footnote 8: These were probably the _Fee-jee_, or Bligh's islands, in
lat. 17 deg. 20' S. long. 181 deg. 30' W. but the narrative is too
incomplete to ascertain this and many other points with any tolerable
certainty.--E.]

A great part of the company were for anchoring on this coast, and
making a descent, but the officers were so intent on proceeding
for India, that they alleged it might be very dangerous to attempt
landing, lest any of the men might be cut off, and they should not
have enough left to carry on the ships. They continued in their
course, therefore, not doubting that they should soon see the coasts
of New Britain or New Guinea: But, after sailing many days without
seeing any land at all, they began to see the vanity of these
calculations, and could not forbear murmuring at their effects, as
the scurvy began to cut off three, four, or five of their best hands
daily. At this time nothing was to be seen but sick people, struggling
with inexpressible pains, or dead carcasses just relieved from their
intolerable distress. From these there arose so abominable a stench,
that even those who were yet sound often fainted away, unable to
endure it. Cries and groans were incessantly heard in all parts of the
ships, and the sight of the poor diseased wretches who were still able
to crawl about, excited horror and compassion. Some were reduced to
such mere skeletons that their skins seemed to cleave to their bones,
and these had this consolation, that they gradually consumed away
without pain. Others were swelled out to monstrous sizes, and were so
tormented with excruciating pain, as to drive them to furious madness.