We had no sooner tacked than it fell calm, and we were left to the mercy of the swell, which continued to hurtle us towards the shore, where large troops of people were assembled.  Some ventured off in two canoes; but all the signs of friendship we could make, did not induce them to come along-side, or near enough to receive any present from us.  At last they took sudden fright at something, and returned ashore.  They were naked, except having some long grass, like flags, fastened to a belt, and hanging down before and behind, nearly as low as the knee.  Their colour was very dark, and their hair woolly, or cut short, which made it seem so.  The canoes were small and had outriggers.  The calm continued till near eight o’clock, in which time we drove into eighty-five fathoms water, and so near the shore that I expected we should be obliged to anchor.  A breeze of wind sprung up at E.S.E., and first took us on the wrong side; but, contrary to all our expectations, and when we had hardly room to veer, the ship came about, and having filled on the starboard tack, we stood off N.E.  Thus we were relieved from the apprehensions of being forced to anchor in a great depth, on a lee shore, and in a dark and obscure night.

We continued to ply upwards, with variable light breezes between E.S.E. and S., till ten next morning, when it fell calm.  We were, at this time, about seven or eight miles from the head of the bay, which is terminated by a low beach; and behind that, is an extensive flat covered with wood, and bounded on each side by a ridge of mountains.  At noon we found the latitude to be 15 deg. 5’ S., and were detained here by the calm till one o’clock p.m., when we got a breeze at N. by W., with which we steered up to within two miles of the head of the bay; and then I sent Mr Cooper and Mr Gilbert to sound and reconnoitre the coast, while we stood to and fro with the ship.  This gave time to three sailing canoes which had been following us some time, to come up.  There were five or six men in each; and they approached near enough to receive such things as were thrown to them fastened to a rope, but would not advance alongside.  They were the same sort of people as those we had seen the preceding evening; indeed we thought they came from the same place.  They seemed to be stouter and better shaped men than those of Mallicollo; and several circumstances concurred to make us think they were of another nation.  They named the numerals as far as five or six in the language of Anamocka, and understood us when we asked the names of the adjacent lands in that language.  Some, indeed, had black short frizzled hair like the natives of Mallicollo, but others had it long, tied up on the crown of the head, and ornamented with feathers like the New Zealanders.  Their other ornaments were bracelets and necklaces; one man had something like a white shell on his forehead, and some were painted with a blackish pigment.  I did not see that they had any other weapon but darts and gigs, intended only for striking of fish.  Their canoes were much like those of Tanna, and navigated in the same manner, or nearly so.  They readily gave us the names of such parts as we pointed to; but we could not obtain from them the name of the island.  At length, seeing our boats coming, they paddled in for the shore, notwithstanding all we could say or do to detain them.