H.      M.      S.
By Mr Bayly, at               11      46     23 1/2 }
Mr King, at                11      46     28     }Apparent time. 
Capt.  Clerke, at           11      47      5     }

Mr Bayly and Mr King observed, with the achromatic telescopes, belonging to the board of longitude, of equal magnifying powers; and Captain Clerke observed with one of the reflectors.  The sun appeared at intervals, till about the middle of the eclipse, after which it was seen no more during the day, so that the end could not be observed.  The disappointment was of little consequence, since the longitude was more than sufficiently determined, independently of this eclipse, by lunar observations, which will be mentioned hereafter.

As soon as we knew the eclipse to be over, we packed up the instruments, took down the observatories, and sent every thing on board that had not been already removed.  As none of the natives had taken the least notice or care of the three sheep allotted to Mareewagee, I ordered them to be carried back to the ships.  I was apprehensive, that, if I had left them here, they run great risk of being destroyed by dogs.  That animal did not exist upon this island, when I first visited it in 1773; but I now found they had got a good many, partly from the breed then left by myself, and partly from some, imported since that time, from an island not very remote, called Feejee.  The dogs, however, at present, had not found their way into any of the Friendly Islands, except Tongataboo; and none but the chiefs there had, as yet, got possession of any.

Being now upon the eve of out departure from this island, I shall add some particulars about it, and its productions, for which I am indebted to Mr Anderson.  And, having spent as many weeks there, as I had done days,[169] when I visited it in 1773, the better opportunities that now occurred, of gaining more accurate information, and the skill of that gentleman, in directing his enquiries, will, in some measure, supply the imperfection of my former account of this island.

[Footnote 169:  From the 4th to the 7th of October.]

“Amsterdam, Tongataboo, or (as the natives also very frequently called it) Tonga, is about twenty leagues in circuit, somewhat oblong, though by much broadest at the east end, and its greatest length from east to west.  The south shore, which I saw in 1773, is straight, and consists of coral rocks, eight or ten feet high, terminating perpendicularly, except in some places, where it is interrupted by small sandy beaches, on which, at low water, a range of black rocks may be seen.  The west end is not above five or six miles broad, but has a shore somewhat like that of the south side, whereas the whole north side is environed with shoals and islands, and the shore within them low and sandy.  The east side or end is, most probably, like the south, as the shore begins to assume a rocky appearance toward the north-east point, though not above seven or eight feet high.