Page:Twenty years before the mast - Charles Erskine, 1896.djvu/163

 There are six principal islands in the Tonga group, several small, uninhabited ones, and many coral reefs and shoals. They were discovered by Abel Janssen Tasman, the eminent Dutch navigator, in 1642. They were visited by Captain Cook in 1773, and are often called  the "Friendly Islands of Captain Cook."

During our passage of sixteen days we were favored with light, balmy breezes. We passed Sunday and several other islands. Witnessed several very remarkable halos around the sun, in circles, half-circles, and segments of circles.

On the 22d we made the island of Tongataboo right ahead, rounded its eastern end, and stood down Astrolabe  Channel. While in the middle of the channel the ship ran upon a coral reef. We hit it in the center and split this huge coral mushroom in halves. As the two halves fell over, the ship settled to her water-line unhurt, and  in a short time we came to anchor off Nukualofa, the  residence of King Josias, or Pubou. While lying here we found our tender, the Flying Fish, and the British  brig Currency Lass at anchor. We surveyed the channel and found no shoal in the place where the ship had  struck, and we had the satisfaction of knowing that we  had rid the channel of one great danger without injury  to our ship.

Mr. Tucker and Mr. Rabone, two Wesleyan missionaries, lived at Nukualofa. Mrs. Tucker took great pride in teaching the native children to read and write. The island was extremely fruitful, and was covered with rich  foliage. At that time it contained ten thousand inhabitants. The highest part of Tongataboo is sixty feet above