At three o’clock, the boats returned; and Mr. King informed me, “That there was no anchorage for the ships; and that the boats could only land on the outer edge of the reef, which lay about a quarter of a mile from the dry land. He said, that a number of the natives came down upon the reef, armed with long pikes and clubs, as if they intended to oppose his landing. And yet when he drew near enough, they threw some cocoa-nuts to our people, and invited them to come on shore; though, at the very same time, he observed, that the women were very busy bringing down a fresh supply of spears and darts. But, as he had no motive to land, he did not give them an opportunity to use them.”
Having received this report, I considered, that, as the ships could not be brought to an anchor, we should find that the attempt to procure grass here, would occasion much delay, as well as be attended with some danger. Besides, we were equally in want of water; and though the inhabitants had told us that there was water on their island, yet we neither knew in what quantity, nor from what distance, we might be obliged to fetch it. And, after all, supposing no other obstruction, we were sure that to get over the reef, would be an operation equally difficult and tedious.
Being thus disappointed at all the islands we had met with, since our leaving New Zealand, and the unfavourable winds, and other unforeseen circumstances, having unavoidably retarded our progress so much, it was now impossible to think of doing any thing this year, in the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere, from which we were still at so great a distance, though the season for our operations there was already begun. In this situation, it was absolutely necessary to pursue such measures as were most likely to preserve the cattle we had on board, in the first place; and, in the next place (which was still a more capital object), to save the stores and provisions of the ships, that we might be better enabled to prosecute our northern discoveries, which could not now commence till a year later than was originally intended.
If I had been so fortunate as to have procured a supply of water, and of grass, at any of the islands we had lately visited, it was my purpose to have stood back to the south, till I had met with a westerly wind. But the certain consequence of doing this without such a supply, would have been the loss of all the cattle, before we could possibly reach Otaheite, without gaining any one advantage with regard to the great object of our voyage.
I therefore determined to bear away for the Friendly Islands, where I was sure of meeting with abundance of every thing I wanted, and it being necessary to run in the night as well as in the day, I ordered Captain Clerke to keep about a league ahead of the Resolution. I used this precaution, because his ship could best claw off the land, and it was very possible we might fall in with some, in our passage.
The longitude of Hervey’s Island, when first discovered, deduced from Otaheite, by the time-keeper, was found to be 201° 6ʹ E., and now, by the same time-keeper, deduced from Queen Charlotte’s Sound, 200° 56ʹ E. Hence I conclude, that the error of the time-keeper at this time, did not exceed twelve miles in longitude.
When we bore away I steered west by south, with a fine breeze easterly. I proposed to proceed first to Middleburgh, or Eooa, thinking, if the wind continued favourable, that we had food enough on board for the cattle, to last till we should reach that island. But about noon next day, those faint breezes, that had attended and retarded us so long, again returned, and I found it necessary to haul more to the north, to get into the latitude of Palmerston’s and Savage Islands, discovered in 1774, during my last voyage[[173]], that if necessity required it, we might have recourse to them.
This day, in order to save our water, I ordered the still to be kept at work, from six o’clock in the morning to four in the afternoon, during which time, we procured from thirteen to sixteen gallons of fresh water. There has been lately made some improvement, as they are pleased to call it, of this machine, which, in my opinion, is much for the worse.
These light breezes continued till the 10th, when we had for some hours the wind blowing fresh from the north, and north north-west, being then in the latitude of 18° 38ʹ, and longitude 198° 24ʹ E. In the afternoon, we had some thunder squalls from the south, attended with heavy rain, of which water, we collected enough to fill five puncheons. After these squalls had blown over the wind came round to the north-east and north-west; being very unsettled both in strength and in position, till about noon the next day, when it fixed at north-west and north north-west, and blew a fresh breeze with fair weather.
Thus were we persecuted with a wind in our teeth whichever way we directed our course, and we had the additional mortification to find here those very winds, which we had reason to expect 8° or 10° farther south. They came too late; for I durst not trust their continuance, and the event proved that I judged right.