The stay of the _Coquille_ at New Zealand terminated on the 17th of April, when a _detour_ was made northwards as far as Rotuma, discovered, but not visited, by Captain Wilson in 1797. The inhabitants, gentle and hospitable, took great pains to furnish the navigators with the provisions they required. But it was not long before the Frenchmen discovered that these gentle islanders, taking advantage of the confidence which they had known how to create, had carried off a number of articles that it afterwards cost much trouble to make them restore. Stringent orders were given, and all thieves caught in the act were flogged in the presence of their fellow-countrymen, who, however, as well as the culprits themselves, treated the affair only as a joke. Among these savages four Europeans were observed, who had a long time before deserted from the whale-ship _Rochester_. They were no better clothed than the natives, and were tatooed and smeared with a yellow powder after the native fashion; so that it would have been hard to recognize them but for their white skins and more intelligent looks. They were quite content with their lot, having married wives and reared families at Rotuma, where, escaping the cares, the troubles, and the difficulties of civilized life, they reckoned on ending their days in comfort. One among them asked to be allowed to remain on board the _Coquille_, a favour which Duperrey was ready to grant, but the chief of the island was unwilling, until he learned that two convicts from Port Jackson asked permission to stay on shore. Although these people, hitherto little known, offered a most interesting subject of study to the naturalists, it was necessary to depart, so the _Coquille_ proceeded to survey the Coral Isles and St. Augustin, discovered by Maurelle in 1781. Then came Drummond Island, where the inhabitants, dark complexioned, with slight limbs, and unintelligent faces, offered to exchange some triangular shells, commonly called holy water cups, for knives and fishhooks; next the islands of Sydenham and Henderville, where the inhabitants go entirely naked; after them, Woolde, Hupper, Hall, Knox, Charlotte, Mathews, which form the Gilbert Archipelago; and finally the Marshall and Mulgrave groups.