At dawn of day we got on shore and tracked the boat into shelter for, the wind blowing fresh without and the ground being rocky, it was not safe to trust her at a grapnel lest she should be blown to sea: I was therefore obliged to let her ground in the course of the ebb. From appearances I expected that if we remained till night we should meet with turtle as we discovered recent tracks of them. Innumerable birds of a noddy kind made this island their resting-place; so that we had reason to flatter ourselves with hopes of getting supplies in greater abundance than it had hitherto been in our power. Our situation was at least four leagues distant from the main. We were on the north-westernmost of four small keys which were surrounded by a reef of rocks connected by sandbanks except between the two northernmost, and there likewise it was dry at low water, the whole forming a lagoon island into which the tide flowed: at this entrance I kept the boat. As usual I sent parties away in search of supplies but, to our great disappointment, we could only get a few clams and some dolichos: with these and the oysters we had brought from Sunday Island I made up a mess for dinner with the addition of a small quantity of bread. Towards noon Nelson and some others who had been to the easternmost key returned, but Nelson was in so weak a condition that he was obliged to be supported by two men. His complaint was a violent heat in his bowels, a loss of sight, much drought, and an inability to walk. This I found was occasioned by his being unable to support the heat of the sun and that, when he was fatigued and faint, instead of retiring into the shade to rest he had continued to attempt more than his strength was equal to. I was glad to find that he had no fever; and it was now that the little wine which I had so carefully saved became of real use. I gave it in very small quantities with some pieces of bread soaked in it; and he soon began to recover. The boatswain and carpenter also were ill and complained of headache and sickness of the stomach. Others who had not had any evacuation by stool became shockingly distressed with the tenesmus so that there were but few without complaints. An idea prevailed that the sickness of the boatswain and carpenter was occasioned by eating the dolichos. Myself however and some others who had taken the same food felt no inconvenience; but the truth was that many of the people had eaten a large quantity of them raw, and Nelson informed me that they were constantly teasing him whenever a berry was found to know if it was good to eat; so that it would not have been surprising if many of them had been really poisoned. Our dinner was not so well relished as at Sunday Island because we had mixed the dolichos with our stew. The oysters and soup however were eaten by everyone except Nelson whom I fed with a few small pieces of bread soaked in half a glass of wine, and he continued to mend.