May.]
OF LA PEROUSE.
237
nected with the main land, which we ſaw at a diſtance. Several bights in the land that incloſes the gulph, ſeemed likely to afford good anchorage.
CHAP. VI.
Importance of the Strait of Dentrecaſteaux—Run from Cape Diemen to New Caledonia—Coaſting the South Weſt of New Caledonia—Dangerous Situation of the Recherche near the Reefs on that Coaſt—Little Cluſter of Iſlands at the Northern Extremity of New Caledonia—View of the Natives—Prodigious Extent of the Reefs—View of the Land of the Arſacides, and of the Treaſury Iſlands—Coaſting the Weſtern Part of the Iſlands of Bougainville, and Bouka—Dangerous Situation of the Recherche, on the Shoals off the Iſland of Bougainville—Interview with the Savages of Bouka Iſland—Their Taſte for Muſic—Their Treachery—Their Canoes—Determination of ſeveral Points of Bougainville and Bouka Iſlands—Anchor in Carteret Harbour—Several Excurſions on the neighbouring Land—Inceſſant Rain during our Stay at Carteret Harbour—Different Obſervations.
We had now compleated a geographical diſcovery of great importance to navigation. It was a point of the greateſt utility to know ex-
actly
