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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

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