Both ships being now ready for sea, I gave Captain Furneaux an account in writing of the route I intended to take; which was to proceed to the east, between the latitudes of 41° and 46° south, until I arrived in the longitude of 140° or 135° west; then, provided no land was discovered, to proceed to Otaheite; from thence back to this place by the shortest route; and after taking in wood and water, to proceed to the south, and explore all the unknown parts of the sea between the meridian of New Zealand and Cape Horn; therefore, in case of separation before we reached Otaheite, I appointed that island for the place of rendezvous, where he was to wait till the 20th of August: if not joined by me before that time, he was then to make the best of his way back to Queen Charlotte’s Sound, where he was to wait until the 20th of November; after which (if not joined by me) he was to put to sea, and carry into execution their lordships’ instructions. Some may think it an extraordinary step in me to proceed on discoveries as far south as 46 degrees of latitude, in the very depth of winter. But though it must be owned, that winter is by no means favourable for discoveries, it nevertheless appeared to me necessary that something should be done in it, in order to lessen the work I was upon, lest I should not be able to finish the discovery of the southern part of the South Pacific Ocean the ensuing summer. Besides, if I should discover any land in my route to the east, I should be ready to begin, with the summer, to explore it. Setting aside all these considerations, I had little to fear; having two good ships well provided, and healthy crews. Where then could I spend my time better? If I did nothing more, I was at least in hopes of being able to point out to posterity, that these seas may be navigated, and that it is practicable to go on discoveries, even in the very depth of winter. During our stay in the sound, I had observed that this second visit made to this country, had not mended the morals of the natives of either sex. I had always looked upon the females of New Zealand to be more chaste than the generality of Indian women. Whatever favours a few of them might have granted to the people in the Endeavour, it was generally done in a private manner, and the men did not seem to interest themselves much in it; but now I was told they were the chief promoters of a shameful traffic, and that, for a spike nail, or any other thing they value, they would oblige the women to prostitute themselves, whether they would or no; and even without any regard to that privacy which decency required. During our stay here Mr. Wales lost no opportunity to observe equal altitudes of the sun, for obtaining the rates of the watches. The result of his labours proved that Mr. Kendal’s was gaining 9ʺ, 5 per day, and Mr. Arnold’s losing 94ʺ, 158 per day, on mean time. CHAP. IX.