Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1829 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER III. OCCURRENCES AT MANNICOLO. 13th Sept. 1827.--Moderate trades throughout the day, thermometer in the shade standing at 82. Shortly after daylight found the ship to be well to the eastward of Bayley's Bay: at 7 A.m. I stood for it under easy sail. In consequence of keeping to the southward of the course steered out by the boats, we met with a number of coral banks and patches with three, four, five and six fathoms water on them. Close to the edges of these truly dangerous banks, bottom could not be found with a line of twenty fathoms. We were sailing over one of them for ten minutes, but by keeping to the northward we soon got into deep water. Having rounded the point which forms the south head of the entrance to the bay, the anchor was let go in thirty-fathoms water with fifty fathoms cable, distance from the point of a reef off Research's head one mile, which bore from the ship E. by S. We were immediately surrounded by canoes to about the number of fifteen or sixteen, carrying from three to five men each. They brought a few articles for barter, but seemed totally ignorant of their relative value; being probably guided by my liberality to the first canoe that visited me from their island, they demanded an axe for a single cocoa-nut or a fish. These gentlemen entered the ship without shewing the slightest symptoms of fear; quite confident that, as they intended us no harm (which was pretty clear from no arms of any kind being in their canoes), they had none to dread. On looking over the ship's quarter, I was surprised with the view which the bottom presented, and on sounding four fathoms were found on a round coral bank, although the anchor had been let go in thirty fathoms. The being so near this danger, and not sufficiently...
