Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 2 (Stockdale).djvu/123

] About half after eleven, being in the narrowest part of the channel, where it did not appear to us to be above four hundred yards over, we had bottom near the middle at six fathoms.

Just as we were on the point of entering into it, a large canoe came to meet us, and the people in her invited us to follow them in a much wider channel, which was on the larboard of it; but when they saw us take another course, they returned, and continued some time a-head of us, willing to instruct us how to steer.

At length we reached the road of Tongataboo, and after making several tacks to fetch the anchorage, brought up a mile to the south-west of Pangaïmotoo, in eleven fathoms and a half of water, on a bottom of very fine grey sand.

One of the western points of Tongataboo bore west 3° north; the western extremity of Pangaïmotoo, north 24° east; and the extremity of the reefs on that side, north 20° west.

We were immediately surrounded by the natives, who came on board in such numbers, that the deck was soon covered with them. Several came in double canoes, of the shape represented in Plate XXVIII.

One of these people, followed by several others, who appeared to pay him great respect, announced himself as one of the chiefs of the island. He