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 a-head 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 deg. 6’ E., and now, by the same time-keeper, deduced from Queen Charlotte’s Sound, 200 deg. 56’ 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 W. by S. 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 N. to get into the latitude of Palmerston’s and Savage Islands, discovered in 1774, during my last voyage, 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 N. and N.N.W., being then in the latitude of 18 deg. 38’, and longitude 198 deg. 24’ E. In the afternoon we had some thunder squalls from the S. 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 N.E. and N.W., being very unsettled both in strength and in position till about noon the next day, when it fixed at N.W. and N.N.W. 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 deg. or 10 deg. farther S. They came too late, for I durst not trust their continuance; and the event proved that I judged right.

At length, at day-break in the morning of the 13th, we saw Palmerston Island, bearing W. by S. distant about five leagues.  However, we did not get up with it till eight o’clock the next morning.  I then sent four boats, three from the Resolution and one from the Discovery, with an officer in each, to search the coast for the most convenient landing-place.  For now we were under an absolute necessity of procuring from this island some food for the cattle, otherwise we must have lost them.