'We owed our safety,' says the captain, 'to the interposition of Providence, a good look-out, and the very brisk manner in which the ship was managed.' Our commander now began to be tired of a coast which he could no longer explore but at the risk of losing the vessel, and ruining the whole voyage.

He determined, however, not to leave it, till he knew of what kind some groves of trees were, which, by their uncommon appearance, had occasioned much speculation, and had been mistaken, by several of the gentlemen, for bisaltes.

Captain Cook was the more solicitous to ascertain the point, as these trees appeared to be of a sort, which might be useful to shipping, and had not been seen any where, but in the southern parts of New Caledonia.

They proved to be a species of spruce pine, very proper for spars, which were then wanted.
The discovery was valuable, as, excepting New Zealand, there was not an island known, in the South Pacific Ocean, where the ship could supply herself with a mast or yard, to whatever distress she might be reduced.

It was the opinion of the carpenter of the Resolution, who was a mastmaker as well as a shipwright, that very good masts might be made from the trees in question.