but that they found thousands of sea fowl sitting upon their nests, which were built in high trees:  These birds were so tame that they suffered themselves to be knocked down without leaving their nests:  The ground was covered with land crabs, but our people saw no other animal.  At first I was inclined to believe that this island was the same that in the Neptune Francois is called Maluita, and laid down about a degree to the eastward of the great island of Saint Elizabeth, which is the principal of the Solomon’s Islands; but being afterwards convinced to the contrary, I called it the Duke of York’s Island, in honour of his late royal highness, and I am of opinion that we were the first human beings who ever saw it.  There is indeed great reason to believe that there is no good authority for laying down Solomon’s Islands in the situation that is assigned to them by the French:  The only person who has pretended to have seen them is Quiros, and I doubt whether he left behind him any account of them by which they might be found by future navigators.[39]

[Footnote 39:  The opinion here stated is now pretty generally confided in.  Byron we see sailed over the northern, and Captain Carteret (as we shall find) the southern limits of these supposed islands, but could not find them.  The name is now given to a cluster of islands tying betwixt the north of Queen Charlotte’s Archipelago, discovered by Carteret, and the south-east coast of New Britain, &c.—­E.]

We continued our course till the 29th, in the track of these islands, and being then ten degrees to the westward of their situation in the chart, without having seen any thing of them, I hauled to the northward, in order to cross the equinoxial, and afterwards shape my course for the Ladrone Islands, which, though a long run, I hoped to accomplish before I should be distressed for water, notwithstanding it now began to fall short.  Our latitude, this day, was 8 deg.13’S., longitude 176 deg.20’E. and the variation was 10 deg.10’E.

On Tuesday the 2d of July, we again saw many birds about the ship, and at four o’clock in the afternoon, discovered an island bearing north, and distant about six leagues:  We stood for it till sun-set, when it was distant about four leagues, and then kept off and on for the night.  In the morning, we found it a low flat island, of a most delightful appearance, and full of wood, among which the cocoa-nut tree was very conspicuous:  We saw, however, to our great regret, much foul ground about it, upon which the sea broke with a dreadful surf.  We steered along the southwest side of it, which we judged to be about four leagues in length, and soon perceived not only that it was inhabited, but very populous; for presently after the ship came in sight, we saw at least a thousand of the natives assembled upon the beach, and in a very short time more than sixty canoes, or rather proas, put off from the shore, and made towards us.  We lay by to receive them, and they were very soon