Only one of the canoes gained upon us, and by three o'clock in the afternoon was not more than two miles off, when she gave over chase.
If I may judge from the sail of the vessels, they are the same as at the Friendly Islands, and the nearness of their situation leaves little room to doubt of their being the same kind of people. Whether these canoes had any hostile intention against us is a matter of doubt; perhaps we might have benefited by an intercourse with them, but in our defenceless situation it would have been risking too much to make the experiment.
I imagine these to be the islands called Feejee, as their extent, direction, and distance from the Friendly Islands, answers to the description given of them by those Islanders. Heavy rain came on at four o'clock, when every person did their utmost to catch some water, and we increased our stock to 34 gallons, besides quenching our thirst for the first time since we had been at sea; but an attendant consequence made us pass the night very miserably, for, being extremely wet, and no dry things to shift or cover us, we experienced cold and shiverings scarce to be conceived. Most fortunately for us, the forenoon turned out fair, and we stripped and dried our cloaths. The allowance I issued to-day, was an ounce and a half of pork, a tea-spoonful of rum, half a pint of cocoa-nut milk, and an ounce of bread. The rum, though so small in quantity, was of the greatest service. A fishing-line was generally towing, and we saw great numbers of fish, but could never catch one.
At noon, I observed, in latitude 16° 4´ S, and found I had made a course, from yesterday noon, N 62° W, distance 62 miles; longitude, by account, from Tofoa, 7° 42´ W.
The land I passed yesterday, and the day before, is a group of islands, 14 or 16 in number, lying between the latitude of 16° 26´ S and 17° 57´ S, and in longitude, by my account, 4° 47´ to 7° 17´ W from Tofoa; three of these islands are very large, having from 30 to 40 leagues of sea-coast.
Saturday, 9th May. Fine weather, and light winds from the N E to E by S.
This afternoon we cleaned out the boat, and it employed us till sun-set to get every thing dry and in order. Hitherto I had issued the allowance by guess, but I now got a pair of scales, made with two cocoa-nut shells; and, having accidentally some pistol-balls in the boat, 25[*] of which weighed one pound, or 16 ounces, I adopted one, as the proportion of weight that each person should receive of bread at the times I served it. I also amused all hands, with describing the situation of New Guinea and New Holland, and gave them every information in my power, that in case any accident happened to me, those who survived might have some idea of what they were about, and be able to find their way to Timor, which at present they knew nothing of, more than the name, and some not that.