On the 22d, at sunrise, the land was clouded, but it was not long before the clouds went off, and we found, by our land-marks, that we had made a good advance. At ten o’clock, the land-breeze being succeeded by a sea-breeze at E. by S., this enabled us to stand in for the land, which at noon extended from N. 78° West, to S. 311⁄2° East, round by the south. In this last direction the coast seemed to trend more to the south in a lofty promontory, which, on account of the day, received the name of Cape Coronation. Latitude 22° 2ʹ, longitude 167° 71⁄2ʹ East. Some breakers lay between us and the shore, and probably they were connected with those we had seen before.
During the night we had advanced about two leagues to S. E., and at day-break, on the 23d, an elevated point appeared in sight beyond Cape Coronation, bearing S. 23° East. It proved to be the S. E. extremity of the coast, and obtained the name of Queen Charlotte’s Foreland. Latitude 22° 16ʹ S., longitude 167° 14ʹ East. About noon, having got a breeze from the N. E., we stood to S. S. E., and, as we drew towards Cape Coronation, saw in a valley to the south of it, a vast number of those elevated objects before-mentioned; and some low land under the Foreland was wholly covered with them. We could not agree in our opinions of what they were. I supposed them to be a singular sort of trees, being too numerous to resemble any thing else; and a great deal of smoke kept rising all the day from amongst those near the Cape. Our philosophers were of opinion that this was the smoke of some internal and perpetual fire. My representing to them that there was no smoke here in the morning, would have been of no avail, had not this eternal fire gone out before night, and no more smoke been seen after. They were still more positive, that the elevations were pillars of basaltes, like those which compose the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland. At sunset, the wind veering round to the south, we tacked and stood off, it not being safe to approach the shore in the dark. At day-break we stood in again, with a faint land-breeze between E. S. E. and S. S. E. At noon observed in latitude 21° 59ʹ 30ʺ, Cape Coronation bearing west southerly, distant seven leagues, and the Foreland S. 38° West. As we advanced to S. S. W. the coast beyond the Foreland began to appear in sight; and, at sunset, we discovered a low island lying S. S. E., about seven miles from the Foreland. It was one of those which are generally surrounded with shoals and breakers. At the same time a round hill was seen bearing S. 24° East, twelve leagues distant. During night, having had variable light winds, we advanced but little either way.
On the 25th, about ten o’clock A. M., having got a fair breeze at E. S. E., we stood to S. S. W., in hopes of getting round the Foreland; but, as we drew near, we perceived more low isles beyond the one already mentioned, which at last appeared to be connected by breakers, extending towards the Foreland, and seeming to join the shore. We stood on till half-past three o’clock, when we saw, from the deck, rocks just peeping above the surface of the sea, on the shoal above mentioned. It was now time to alter the course, as the day was too far spent to look for a passage near the shore, and we could find no bottom to anchor in during the night. We therefore stood to the south, to look for a passage without the small isles. We had a fine breeze at E. S. E., but it lasted no longer than five o’clock, when it fell to a dead calm. Having sounded, a line of 170 fathoms did not reach the bottom, though we were but a little way from the shoals, which, instead of following the coast to S. W., took a S. E. direction towards the hill we had seen the preceding evening, and seemed to point out to us that it was necessary to go round that land. At this time the most advanced point on the main bore S. 68° West, distant nine or ten leagues. About seven o’clock we got a light breeze at north, which enabled us to steer out E. S. E., and to spend the night with less anxiety. On some of the low isles were many of those elevations already mentioned. Every one was now satisfied they were trees, except our philosophers; who still maintained that they were basaltes.
About day break, on the 26th, the wind having shifted to S. S. W., we stretched to S. E. for the hill before mentioned. It belonged to an island, which at noon extended from S. 16° E. to S. 7° West, distant six leagues. Latitude observed 22° 16ʹ South. In the P. M. the wind freshened, and, veering to S. S. E., we stretched to the east, till two A. M. on the 27th, when we tacked and stood to S. W. with hopes of weathering the island; but we fell about two miles short of our expectations, and had to tack about a mile from the east side of the island, the extremes bearing from N. W. by N. to S. W. the hill west, and some low isles, lying off the S. E. point, S. by W. These seemed to be connected with the large island by breakers. We sounded when in stays, but had no ground with a line of eighty fathoms. The skirts of this island were covered with the elevations more than once mentioned. They had much the appearance of tall pines, which occasioned my giving that name to the island. The round hill, which is on the S. W. side, is of such a height as to be seen fourteen or sixteen leagues. The island is about a mile in circuit, and situated in latitude 22° 38ʹ S., longitude 167° 40ʹ East. Having made two attempts to weather the Isle of Pines before sunset, with no better success than before, this determined me to stretch off till midnight. This day at noon the thermometer was at 68° 3⁄4, which is lower than it had been since the 27th of February.
Having tacked at midnight, assisted by the currents, and a fresh gale at E. S. E. and S. E., next morning, at daybreak, we found ourselves several leagues to windward of the Isle of Pines, and bore away large, round the S. E., and south sides. The coast from the S. E., round by the south to the west, was strewed with sand-banks, breakers, and small low isles, most of which were covered with the same lofty trees that ornamented the borders of the greater one. We continued to range the outside of these small isles and breakers, at three-fourths of a league distance, and as we passed, one raised another; so that they seemed to form a chain extending to the isles which lie off the Foreland. At noon we observed, in latitude 22° 44ʹ 36ʺ South, the Isle of Pines, extending from N. by E. 1⁄2 E. to E. by N., and Cape Coronation N. 32° 30ʹ West, distant seventeen leagues. In the afternoon, with a fine gale at E., we steered N. W. by W. along the outside of the shoals, with a view of falling in with the land a little to S. W. of the Foreland. At two o’clock P. M. two low islets were seen bearing W. by S., and as they were connected by breakers, which seemed to join those on our starboard, this discovery made it necessary to haul off S. W. in order to get clear of them all. At three, more breakers appeared, extending from the low isles towards the S. E. We now hauled out close to the wind; and, in an hour and an half, were almost on board the breakers, and obliged to tack. From the mast-head, they were seen to extend as far as E. S. E., and the smoothness of the sea made it probable that they extended to the north of east, and that we were in a manner surrounded by them. At this time the hill on the Isle of Pines bore N. 711⁄2° East, the Foreland N. 1⁄4 W., and the most advanced point of land on the S. W. coast bore N. W., distant fifteen or sixteen leagues. This direction of the S. W. coast, which was rather within the parallel of the N. E., assured us that this land extended no farther to the S. W. After making a short trip to N. N. E., we stood again to the south, in expectation of having a better view of the shoals before sunset. We gained nothing by this but the prospect of a sea strewed with shoals, which we could not clear but by returning in the track by which we came. We tacked nearly in the same place where we had tacked before, and on sounding found a bottom of fine sand. But anchoring in a strong gale, with a chain of breakers to leeward, being the last resource, I rather chose to spend the night in making short boards over that space we had, in some measure, made ourselves acquainted with in the day. And thus it was spent; but under the terrible apprehension, every moment, of falling on some of the many dangers which surrounded us.
Daylight showed that our fears were not ill-founded, and that we had been in the most imminent danger; having had breakers continually under our lee, and at a very little distance from us. We owed our safety to the interposition of Providence, a good look-out, and the very brisk manner in which the ship was managed; for, as we were standing to the north, the people on the lee gangway and forecastle saw breakers under the lee-bow, which we escaped by quickly tacking the ship.
I was now almost tired of a coast which I could no longer explore, but at the risk of losing the ship and ruining the whole voyage. I was, however, determined not to leave it, till I knew what trees those were which had been the subject of our speculation; especially as they appeared to be of a sort useful to shipping, and had not been seen any where but in the southern part of this land. With this view, after making a trip to the south, to weather the shoals under our lee, we stood to the north, in hopes of finding anchorage under some of the islets on which these trees grew. We were stopped by eight o’clock by the shoals which lie extended between the Isle of Pines and Queen Charlotte’s Foreland; and found soundings off them in fifty-five, forty, and thirty-six fathoms, a fine sandy bottom. The nearer we came to these shoals, the more we saw of them, and we were not able to say if there was any passage between the two lands.
Being now but a few miles to windward of the low isles lying off the Foreland, mentioned on the 25th and 26th, I bore down to the one next to us. As we drew near it I perceived that it was unconnected with the neighbouring shoals, and that it is probable we might get to an anchor under its lee or west side. We therefore stood on, being conducted by an officer at the mast-head; and after hauling round the point of the reef which surrounds the isle, we attempted to ply to windward, in order to get nearer the shore. Another reef to the north confined us to a narrow channel, through which ran a current against us, that rendered this attempt fruitless; so that we were obliged to anchor in thirty-nine fathoms’ water, the bottom fine coral sand; the isle bearing W. by N., one mile distant. As soon as this was done, we hoisted out a boat, in which I went ashore, accompanied by the botanists. We found the tall trees to be a kind of spruce pine, very proper for spars, of which we were in want. After making this discovery, I hastened on board in order to have more time after dinner, when I landed again with two boats, accompanied by several of the officers and gentlemen, having with us the carpenter and some of his crew, to cut down such trees as were wanting. While this was doing, I took the bearings of several lands round. The hill on the Isle of Pines bore S. 59° 30ʹ E.; the low point of Queen Charlotte’s Foreland N. 14° 30ʹ West; the high land over it, seen over two low isles, N. 20° West; and the most advanced point of land to the west, bore west, half a point south, distant six or seven leagues. We had, from several bearings, ascertained the true direction of the coast from the Foreland to this point, which I shall distinguish by the name of Prince of Wales’s Foreland. It is situated in the latitude of 22° 29ʹ S., longitude 166° 57ʹ E., is of a considerable height, and, when it first appears above the horizon, looks like an island. From this cape the coast trended nearly N. W. This was rather too northerly a direction to join that part which we saw from the hills of Balade. But as it was very high land which opened off the cape in that direction, it is very probable that lower land, which we could not see, opened sooner; or else the coast more to the N. W. takes a more westerly direction, in the same manner as the N. E. coast. Be this as it may, we pretty well know the extent of the land, by having it confined within certain limits. However, I still entertained hopes of seeing more of it; but was disappointed.
The little isle upon which we landed, is a mere sand bank, not exceeding three-fourths of a mile in circuit, and on it, besides these pines, grew the Etos tree of Otaheite, and a variety of other trees, shrubs, and plants. These gave sufficient employment to our botanists, all the time we staid upon it, and occasioned my calling it Botany Isle. On it were several water-snakes, some pigeons and doves, seemingly different from any we had seen. One of the officers shot a hawk, which proved to be of the very same sort as our English fishing-hawks. Several fire-places, branches, and leaves very little decayed, remains of turtle, &c. showed that people had lately been on the isle. The hull of a canoe, precisely of the same shape as those we had seen at Balade, lay wrecked in the sand. We were now no longer at a loss to know of what trees they make their canoes, as they can be no other than these pines. On this little isle were some which measured twenty inches diameter, and between sixty and seventy feet in length, and would have done very well for a fore-mast to the Resolution, had one been wanting. Since trees of this size are to be found on so small a spot, it is reasonable to expect to find some much larger on the main, and larger isles, and, if appearances did not deceive us, we can assert it.
If I except New Zealand, I, at this time, knew of no island in the South Pacific Ocean, where a ship could supply herself with a mast or a yard, were she ever so much distressed for want of one. Thus far the discovery is or may be valuable. My carpenter, who was a mast-maker as well as a ship-wright, two trades he learnt in Deptford yard, was of opinion that these trees would make exceedingly good masts. The wood is white, close-grained, tough, and light. Turpentine had exuded out of most of the trees, and the sun had inspissated it into a rosin, which was found sticking to the trunks, and lying about the roots. These trees shoot out their branches like all other pines; with this difference, that the branches of these are much smaller and shorter; so that the knots become nothing when the tree is wrought for use. I took notice, that the largest of them had the smallest and shortest branches, and were crowned, as it were, at the top, by a spreading branch like a bush. This was what led some on board into the extravagant notion of their being basaltes: indeed, no one could think of finding such trees here.—The seeds are produced in cones; but we could find none that had any in them, or that were in a proper state for vegetable or botanical examination. Besides these, there was another tree or shrub of the spruce fir kind; but it was very small. We also found on the isle a sort of scurvy-grass, and a plant, called by us Lamb’s Quarters, which, when boiled, eat like spinnage.