I now hauled up due east, to run down my longitude with the greater despatch in this high latitude, where the degrees of longitude are small. This was fortunate: for by running on this parallel we discovered on the third day a group of small islands, forming a fine harbour, and well stocked with seal. Here we anchored. The islands were high broken rocks of granite and whinstone, apparently dislocated from their primitive bed, and thrown up by some volcanic eruption, or by the efforts of elastic gases generated in the 'mid-plane cavity,' to escape through this outer crust of the earth. Some scanty tussoc, and a few mountain plants and mosses in the most favoured spots, formed the only evidence of vegetation observable in these dreary islands. I named them Albicore's Islands, they having been first discovered by that vigilant officer; and determined to avail myself of the discovery to extend the profits of my voyage, by adding as many seal skins to my cargo as could be stowed in the space occupied by the steam engine and boiler, which I took to pieces, and placed in the bottom of the ship for ballast and dunnage. By caulking in the paddle ports I also gained the place between the double sides, and rendered the ship to outward observation like an ordinary vessel, ketch rigged. We remained at Albicore's Islands six weeks, in which time we obtained seventeen thousand skins. Having taken these on board, and performed the important ceremony of taking possession of the islands for the United States, by hoisting the stripes and stars upon them in the usual manner, I was ready to depart for Canton. Being now about to visit a place where I should meet many of my countrymen and persons full of curiosity from every part of the world, who would be very inquisitive as to the discoveries I had made, I was led to reflect maturely on the consequences which might result from a disclosure of them; and the advantages which might be derived to myself, my friends, and my officers and people, by withholding all knowledge of them from the world. At length, having made up my own mind on the subject, I called my officers and people together, and stated to them that if we should on our return to the United States, or at Canton, declare the discoveries we had made, we should in the first place expose ourselves to the charge of being impostors and outrageous falsifiers; in the second place, our countrymen, and even the Europeans, who would give us no credit for our bravery and enterprise, would avail themselves of all the information we might communicate, to fit out expeditions to Seaborn's Land, and possibly to Belzubia, and thus reap the harvest of our planting; but, worse than all, after thus appropriating to themselves the benefits of our skill and perseverance, they would assert that they had made all those discoveries, call all those places by new names, and affirm that we had never been there at all.