Aswedrewnearertheland，Ihailedwithdelighttheappearanceofinnumerablesea-fowl。Screamingandwhirlinginspiraltracks，theywouldaccompanythevessel，andattimesalightonouryardsandstays。Thatpiratical-lookingfellow，appropriatelynamedtheman-of-war’s-hawk，withhisblood-redbillandravenplumage，wouldcomesweepingroundusingraduallydiminishingcircles，tillyoucoulddistinctlymarkthestrangeflashingsofhiseye；andthen，asifsatisfiedwithhisobservation，wouldsailupintotheairanddisappearfromtheview。Soon，otherevidencesofourvicinitytothelandwereapparent，anditwasnotlongbeforethegladannouncementofitsbeinginsightwasheardfromaloft，-givenwiththatpeculiarprolongationofsoundthatasailorloves-“Landho！“
Thecaptain，dartingondeckfromthecabin，bawledlustilyforhisspy-glass；themateinstilllouderaccentshailedthemast-headwithatremendous“Where-away？“Theblackcookthrusthiswoollyheadfromthegalley，andBoatswain，thedog，leapedupbetweentheknightheads，andbarkedmostfuriously。Landho！Ay，thereitwas。A
hardlyperceptibleblueirregularoutline，indicatingtheboldcontouroftheloftyheightsofNukuheva。
Thisisland，althoughgenerallycalledoneoftheMarquesas，isbysomenavigatorsconsideredasformingoneofadistinctcluster，comprisingtheislandsofRoohka，Ropo，andNukuheva；uponwhichthreetheappellationoftheWashingtonGrouphasbeenbestowed。Theyformatriangle，andliewithintheparallelsof8deg。38’and9deg。32’
southlatitude，and139deg。20’and140deg。10’westlongitude，fromGreenwich。Withhowlittleproprietytheyaretoberegardedasformingaseparategroupwillbeatonceapparent，whenitisconsideredthattheylieintheimmediatevicinityoftheotherislands，thatistosay，lessthanadegreetothenorth-westofthem；