Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 1 (Stockdale).djvu/119

Jan.] end of September, in the preent year, after a paage of about ix months.

A day or two after they had weathered the Straits of St. George, they found themelves as oon as it dawned within ight of two of the Admiralty Ilands, which were very near them; they immediately ounded, but could not reach the bottom.

They afterwards oberved two canoes that contained about twelve men each, rowing from the ilands towards them; but though they would not come on board the veel, they however approached very near to it. There was then very little wind blowing. The veel was expoed to a current which drove it off from the land: at any rate, the Dutch captain had no inclination to approach nearer to the hore. It was oberved that two of the men in the canoes had word-belts imilar to thoe worn by European officers; they made igns as if they wihed to have their beards haved, and many of them had pieces of red and blue cloth about their dres, which proved that they had had ome communication with Europeans. As Captain Hunter, Commander of the Sirius, had been informed at Botany Bay by La Péroue himelf, that his intention was to pas the Straits of St. George; all the officers of that frigate were of opinion that they had thus un- expectedly