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the Pacific. For almost two months she bucketed her way through
empty seas. Occasionally the masthead lookout had tantalising
glimpses of islands which were inaccessible because the wind was
wrong and the crew weak.
Then, on 6 June, land was sighted dead ahead:
The joy which everyone on board felt at the discovery can be con-
ceived by those only who have experienced the danger, sickness and fa-
tigue of such a voyage as we had performed. 24
The hitherto untravelled WNW course had brought Dolphin to
the undiscovered Tuamotu archipelago. Wallis now threaded his
way cautiously westward through the labyrinth of reefs and islands,
sending a boat ashore whenever possible to negotiate for food and
water with the natives. The Englishmen received a mixed reception
but were able to collect fresh water, coconuts and scurvy grass.
On 19 June the voyagers came upon a larger island, which
proved to be their most important discovery. Since Wallis was con-
fined to his bed he was obliged to send his second lieutenant, Tobias
Furneaux, ashore to claim the land for his sovereign and to name it
George III Island. But the title was not destined to stick; later visit-
ors gave it an anglicised form of the name the local people used for
their home - Tahiti. The natives of this populous island were wary
of the white strangers in their big canoe. Naturally, they could not
know the desires or intentions of the newcomers. The flotilla of craft
which made its way out to the Dolphin indicated these doubts and
hesitations very clearly: some boats were loaded with produce. Oth-
ers bore a cargo of young women, who 'made all the wanton gestures
that can be conceived'. But a third of the fleet was loaded with stones.
An initial attempt at long-distance parley failed. Dolphin was subjec-
ted to a hail of missiles. Other well-armed canoes quickly paddled
out to the anchorage. The local chief came forth in his own impress-
 
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