Remarkable Occurrences &c.a in the South Seas
[Note left margin ] Osnaburg Island -
PM. mod.te breezes & cloudy in the Night dark cloudy unsettled wea.r with very much Thunder, Lightning, & rain. AM little wind & fair PM Variation per Several Azm.ths- 5.º 41 E.t at 8 AM saw Osnaburg Island, / so called by Cap.n Wallis the first discovery bearing NW b W.t distance 4 or 5 Leagues, it is a high round Island & appears to be not above a League in Circuit, & when it bears as above it looks like a high Crown'd Hatt but when it bears N.º the Top is more like the roof of a House it lies in the Lat.de of 17º.48' Sº. & Long.de 148º.10' West, & W b S 44 Leag.s from Chain Island-
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Firstp.t little wind & cloudy the remainder little wind & very Variable unsettled wea.r, with some rain, PM took several Observations of the sun & moon which gave the Long.de of the ship to be 148º.18'.W.t. & differs but little from that given by the Log,
At 6 AM saw King Georges Island Extending from W b S½S to W b N½N, it appeared very high & Mountainous.
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Variable, light Airs all these 24 Hours & Hot sultry wea.r at 5 PM King Georges Island extending from NWbW to SW dist.ce 6 or 7 Leag.s & at 6 AM it bore from SSW to WbN, being little wind & with Calms. several of the natives came off to us in their Canoes, but more to look at us than any thing else, we could not prevail with any of them to come onboard, & some would not come near the Ship-------
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[Note left margin ] Arrival at King Georges Island or Otaheite
The first part Cloudy with Showers of rain remainder genteel breezes &, clear wea.r at 4 PM the NEt point of Royalty Bay 10 ½ N. easey sail all night & had soundings from 22 to 12 fam, 2 or 3 miles from the Shore , at 5 AM made sail for the Bay, & at 7 Anchor'd in 13 fam. At this time we had but very few men upon the sick list & these had but slite complaints, the Ships company had in general been very healthy owing in a great measure to the Sour Kroutt, Portable Soup, & Malt, the two first were served to the People the one on Beef Days & the other on Banyan Days. Wort was made of the Malt & at the discretion of the Surgeon given to every man that had the least Simptons of Scurvy upon him by this means & the Care & Vigilance of Mr Monkhouse the Surgeon that this disease was prevented from getting a footing in the Ship.
The Sour Kroutt, the Men at first would not eat Eat, it until I put it in practice a method I never once Knew to fail with seamen, & this was to have some of it dressed every day for the Cabin Table, & permitted all the Officers without exception to make use of it, & left it to the option of the men either to take as much as they pleased or none at all, but this practice was not continued above a week before I found it necessary to put every one onboard to an allowance for such are the Tempers and disposition of Seamen in general that whatever you give them out of the common way altho' it be ever so much for their good yet it will not go down with them & you will hear nothing but murmering against the Man that first invented it: but the moment they see their superiors set a value upon it, it becomes the finest stuff in the world and the inventer an Damned honest fellow------------