guese colony on St. Catherine at that time was supposed by the French navigator to consist of three thousand inhabitants, and four hundred houses. It was found that vessels might approach St. Catherine without difficulty to within four cable-lengths of the land, where there is good anchorage in four fathoms water. Provisions were procured in the greatest abundance. A large ox was bought for eight dollars, a hog of 150 lbs. weight for four dollars, and two turkeys for a single dollar. It was only necessary to cast the net to haul it up full of fish. Oranges were brought on board and sold at the rate of one thousand for less than a dollar.

Having laid in an abundant supply at St. Catherine's, the expedition sailed from thence on the 19th November, and on the 25th January 1786 doubled Cape Horn, with much greater facility than the Count had expected. From thence they proceeded to Conception Bay in Chili. After obtaining refreshments, refitting the ships, &c., the expedition sailed from Conception on the 17th March, and on the 8thApril sighted Easter Island, situated in

latitude 27° 11' south, and longitude 111° 55′ 30′′ west of Paris. Here the ships remained at anchor one day, and again sailed on the 10th, having left the islanders a breed of the most useful animals, such as sheep, goats, pigs, &c.

On the morning of the 28th of May following they sighted Owhyhee, the most frequented of the Sandwich Islands, where the immortal Cook was killed. Here the ships' crews were employed bartering iron hoops, nails, fish-hooks, &c. with the islanders, for hogs, poultry, yams, cocoanuts, bread-fruit, bananas, &c. until the evening of the 1st June, when they bid the Sandwich Islands adieu, and shaped their course for the north-west coast of America.

On the 23d, Mount St. Elias, of Behrings, on the north-west coast of America, was visible from the ships' decks. They spent a few days in exploring this part of the coast, and discovered a port which the Count de la Pérouse named Port des Français, and describes as bearing a great resemblance to the port of Toulon. Here the ships anchored on the 4th July, after

narrowly escaping shipwreck at its entrance. This danger arose from the wind becoming nearly calm, when a strong flood tide set in with such force as almost to carry the frigates on the rocks near the harbour's mouth.

Count de la Pérouse's remarks upon this accident are: "During the thirty years "that I have followed the sea, I never

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saw two vessels so near being lost and "to have experienced such an event at the

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verge of the world would have enhanced our misfortune. But we had now escaped this danger, our long-boats were quickly hoisted out, and with our kedge "anchors we warped off, so that we were "in six fathoms of water before the tide "had fallen precipitately. Our keel touch"ed the bottom a few times, but so slightly "as to do the vessel no injury."

From the period of the ships first entering this bay nothing remarkable occurred until the 13th, on which day a dreadful disaster befel twenty-one of the ships' company, who composed the crews of two boats employed in sounding the passage into the bay. The command of this party

had been given to a very distinguished officer, who incautiously deviated most unfortunately from the strict injunctions laid on him by his very experienced commander. The consequence was, that two of the boats under his command were upset in the surf, and the whole of the crews drowned, consisting of twenty-one persons The Count, with his usual humanity, erect ed a monument, bearing an appropriate inscription commemorative of the disaster which befel his brave shipmates. On the 30th July the expedition sailed from the Port des Français, which is situated in latitude 58° 37' north, and longitude 139° 50' west of Paris; and were employed from that period exploring and surveying the coast of America to the 15th September, at which period the frigates anchored at the Spanish settlement of Monterey, in California. Here they met with a kind reception from the Spanish missionaries : not such a reception as I and my sick crew experienced from the pious English missionaries at New Zealand, as will be hereafter partly explained.

After refreshing the crews, refitting the

ships, and taking in abundant supplies of provisions, the expedition sailed from Monterey for China on the 24th September, and anchored in Macao roads on the 3d January 1787. In crossing the north Pacific Ocean from California to the port of Macao in China, la Pérouse discovered Necker Island: he also passed a rock during the night, upon which the frigates were in great danger of being lost. They soon after sighted the Island of Assumption, one of the Ladrones, the latitude and longitude of which the Count found to be very erroneously laid down by former navigators. From thence he proceeded to, and determined the latitude and longitude of the Bashee Islands.

After procuring the supplies necessary at Macao, the expedition sailed thence on the 5th February for the Spanish settlement of Manilla, in the island of Luconia, where they anchored on the 28th of the same month. Having been much retarded in their passage by the north-east monsoon in the China seas, they waited at Manilla till the strength of this monsoon was spent, and proceeded from