Page:Twenty Thousand Verne Frith 1876.pdf/186

 complished 8,100 miles: 9,720 miles were recorded on the log when we passed the archipelago of Tonga-Tabou, where the Argo, the Port au Prince, and the Duke of Portland were lost; and the Navigator Isles, where Captain Langle, the friend of La Perouse, was killed. Then we came to the Fiji Islands, where the savages murdered the sailors of the ship Union, and Captain Bureau, of Nantes, of the Aimable Josephine. This archipelago extends 100 leagues to the north and south, and 90 leagues from east to west, and is comprised between 6° and 2° S. lat., and 174° and 179° W. long. It is composed of islands, islets, and rocks, amongst which are the islands of Viti-Levou, Vanona-Levou, and Kandubon.

Tasman discovered this group in 1643, the same year that Toricelli invented the barometer, and in which Louis XIV. ascended the throne. I leave my readers to reflect which of these facts has proved most useful to mankind.

After Tasman, Cook, in 1714, Entrecasteaux, in 1793, and, finally, Dumont d’Urville, in 1827, came to clear up the obscurity of these regions. The Nautilus now approached the Bay of Wailea, the scene of the terrible adventures of Captain Dillon, who was the first to clear up the mystery connected with the shipwreck of La Perouse.

This bay, dredged many times, furnished us with abundance of oysters. We ate quantities of them, opening them at our own table, as recommended by Seneca. These belonged to the species known as the ostre lamellosa, which is very common in Corsica. That the bank of Wailea will become of great extent, is certain; and if destructive agencies be not increased, the quantities