Thursday, 23rd. Fresh gales and Squally, with rain, the first part;
remainder fresh Gales and Cloudy. P.M. saw some Men-of-War Birds, and Egg
Birds, and in the Morning saw more Egg Birds and Tropic Birds. The
Man-of-War and Tropic Birds are pretty well known, but the Egg Bird (as
it is called in the Dolphin's Journal) requires some discription to know
it by that Name. It is a small slender Bird of the Gull kind, and all
white, and not much unlike the small white Gulls we have in England, only
not so big.* (* Terns.) There are also Birds in Newfoundland called
Stearings that are of the same shape and Bigness, only they are of a
Greyish Colour. These Birds were called by the Dolphin Egg Birds on
account of their being like those known by that name by Sailors in the
Gulph of Florida; neither they nor the Man-of-War Birds are ever reckoned
to go very far from Land. Wind North by West to West by North: course
North 13 degrees West; distance 49 miles; latitude 24 degrees 43 minutes
South, longitude 130 degrees 8 minutes West.

[Passing Low Archipelago.]

Friday, 24th. Fresh Gales and Cloudy, with some rain in the forepart of
this day. All the forepart of these 24 hours the Sea was smooth, but at
12 at night it was more so, and about 3 in the Morning one of the people
saw, or thought he saw, a Log of Wood pass the Ship. This made us think
that we were near some land,* (* The Endeavour was now passing to the
northward of the easternmost islands of the Paumotu or Low Archipelago,
though out of sight of them.) but at daylight we saw not the least
appearance of any, and I did not think myself at liberty to spend time in
searching for what I was not sure to find, although I thought myself not
far from those Islands discovered by Quiros in 1606; and very probably we
were not, from the birds, etc., we have seen for these 2 or 3 days past.
Wind West-North-West to North-West; course North-East by North 1/4 East;