At six o'clock in the afternoon of the 23d, more land made its appearance, bearing north to north-west, four leagues distant, but night coming on, they tacked and stood to the southward.
24 June 1788
By two o'clock the next day, they were within two miles of the land, and found it to be a chain of islands, extending from east to nearly west for more than twenty-five leagues; and they perceived a reef from the easternmost point of land, which ran at least three leagues into the sea. The shore on the north-west side of these islands is bold and steep; the Scarborough coasted along within a mile of the land, and frequently sounded with an hundred fathoms of line, but could get no bottom; at the same time they saw the water break near the shore, and a vast number of the natives were collected on the beach. About three o'clock, a small canoe with two men in her came off from the shore, on which Captain Marshall hove to, in order to give them an opportunity of coming up with the ship, but when they were about one hundred yards from the vessel, they put back again as fast as possible, seemingly very much frightened: these men had skins wrapped round their waists, and their hair was ornamented with shells and beads. After they left the ship, Captain Marshall made sail, being desirous to make the westward part of the islands if possible before the night came on; but in this he was disappointed, as the wind grew light and baffling. Several large canoes now put off from the shore with eight or ten men in each; it already has been observed that the Charlotte, Captain Gilbert, was in company with the Scarborough; at this time she was some distance a-stern, and the canoes all went along-side her; several of them went on board the Charlotte, and ran fore and aft, stealing every thing that lay in their way; one of them in particular, got hold of the pump-break, and attempted to jump over-board with it, but was stopped by one of the sailors. They appeared to be very civilized, and all of them had coverings round the waist: their ornaments were necklaces made of beads, to which a cross was suspended, in the same manner as those worn by the Spaniards.
25 June 1788-27 June 1788
Captain Marshall distinguished these islands by the name of Lord Mulgrave's Islands, in honour of the Right Honourable Lord Mulgrave. The southernmost of them is situated in 5° 58' north latitude, and 172° 3' east longitude, and the northernmost in 6° 29' north latitude, and 171° 10' east longitude. At noon on the 25th, they got round the westernmost island, and thought themselves entirely clear of them all, as the day was very fair, and no land could be seen from the mast-head; at the same time they had a long swell: on this, Captain Marshall stood on under an easy sail during the night, but was very much surprised at daylight the next morning to see land on the weather quarter, and a large island on the lee quarter, between which they must have passed in the night, and certainly very near that on their lee, though they sounded every half hour, but never struck the ground. Lord Mulgrave's Islands abound with cocoa-nut-trees, and they could perceive remnants of oranges and various other sorts of fruit, although the natives offered nothing of the sort to barter. These islanders had not any offensive weapons whatever, so that they probably are on very friendly terms with each other. With a light easterly breeze, they kept their course to the northward, and at noon on the 27th, in 7° 25' north latitude, and 171° 10' east longitude, they saw land bearing from north by east to north north-west. Having now a fresh breeze, Captain Marshall run in with the land, and found it to be a cluster of small islands lying east and west of each other, but no appearance was seen of their being inhabited.
28 June 1788
At noon on the 28th, more islands were seen, bearing from north to north-west by west, three or four leagues distant, their latitude at that time was 8° 02' north, and 170° 57' east longitude. The weather being very hazy, with constant rain, they wore, and stood from the land; however, the afternoon proving tolerably clear, they again stood towards it, and by four o'clock were close in with the westernmost island. Two large canoes were lying on a sandy beach, but they did not perceive any inhabitants. At five o'clock they saw several more islands, bearing north north-east, five or six leagues distant. During the night, Captain Marshall stood under an easy sail, and at day-light the next morning land was seen a-head bearing north by east six leagues, and some land bearing east seventeen leagues distant. These islands, like all they had yet seen, were very low, and entirely covered with lofty trees; on sounding, they got no ground with an hundred fathoms of line. Their latitude at noon was 8° 59' north, and 170° 24' east longitude.
30 June 1788
At five in the afternoon, more islands were seen, bearing north, five leagues distant, but night coming on they wore and stood to the southward. In the forenoon of the 30th, they ran between two islands, about five leagues distant from each other, and surrounded by a number of breakers: by eleven o'clock they were entirely clear of all the land. Their observation at noon gave 9° 34' north latitude, and the longitude was 169° 22' east. These last islands were supposed by Captain Marshall to be those which Lord Anson discovered, and named Barbadoes Islands.
31 July 1788