About six in the evening, it being then dark, the boats returned, and the master told me, that all within the reef was rocky, but that in two or three places, at about two cables' length without it, there was anchorage in eighteen, fourteen, and twelve fathom, upon sand and coral. The breach in the reef he found to be about sixty fathom broad, and here, if pressed by necessity, he said a ship might anchor or moor in eight fathom; but that it would not be safe to moor with a greater length than half a cable.
When I had hoisted the boats in, I ran down four miles to leeward, where we lay till the morning; and then, finding that the current had set us out of sight of the island, I made sail. The officers did me the honour to call this island after my name. _Wallis's Island_ lies in latitude 13° 18' S. longitude 177° W.
As the latitudes and longitudes of all these islands are accurately laid down, and plans of them delivered in to the Admiralty, it will be easy for any ship, that shall hereafter navigate these seas, to find any of them, either to refresh or to make farther discoveries of their produce.
I thought it very remarkable, that although we found no kind of metal in any of these islands, yet, the inhabitants of all of them, the moment they got a piece of iron in their possession, began to sharpen it, but made no such attempt on brass or copper.
We continued to steer N. westerly, and many birds were from time to time seen about the ship, till the 28th, when her longitude being, by observation, 187°24'W. we crossed the Line into north latitude. Among the birds that came about the ship, one which we caught exactly resembled a dove in size, shape, and colour. It had red legs, and was web-footed. We also saw several plantain leaves and cocoa-nuts pass by the ship.
On Saturday the 29th, about two o'clock in the afternoon, being in latitude 2°50'N. longitude 188°W. we crossed a great rippling, which stretched from the N.E. to the S.W. as far as the eye could reach from the mast-head. We sounded, but had no bottom with a line of two hundred fathoms.
On Thursday the 3d of September, at five o'clock in the morning, we saw land bearing E.N.E. distant about five miles: In about half an hour we saw more land in the N. W. and at six, saw in the N.E. an Indian proa, such as is described in the account of Lord Anson's voyage. Perceiving that she stood towards us, we hoisted Spanish colours; but when she came within about two miles of us, she tacked, and stood from us to the N.N.W. and in a short time was out of sight.