end of September, in the preſent year, after a paſſage of about ſix months.
A day or two after they had weathered the Straits of St. George, they found themſelves as ſoon as it dawned within ſight of two of the Admiralty Iſlands, which were very near them; they immediately ſounded, but could not reach the bottom.
They afterwards obſerved two canoes that contained about twelve men each, rowing from the iſlands towards them; but though they would not come on board the veſſel, they however approached very near to it. There was then very little wind blowing. The veſſel was expoſed to a current which drove it off from the land: at any rate, the Dutch captain had no inclination to approach nearer to the ſhore. It was obſerved that two of the men in the canoes had ſword-belts ſimilar to thoſe worn by European officers; they made ſigns as if they wiſhed to have their beards ſhaved, and many of them had pieces of red and blue cloth about their dreſs, which proved that they had had ſome communication with Europeans. As Captain Hunter, Commander of the Sirius, had been informed at Botany Bay by La Pérouſe himſelf, that his intention was to paſs the Straits of St. George; all the officers of that frigate were of opinion that they had thus un-
expectedly
