what I had taken for marble in another place, was a mineral substance; and that, considering the correspondence of latitude between this place and South America, it was not improbable but that, by a proper examination, something very valuable might be found.

At my return in the evening, I found all the wood and water on board, and the ship ready for the sea; I resolved therefore to quit the country, and return home by such a route as might be of most advantage to the service; and upon this subject took the opinion of my officers. I had myself a strong desire to return by Cape Horn, because that would have enabled me finally to determine, whether there is or is not a southern continent; but against this it was a sufficient objection that we must have kept in a high southern latitude in the very depth of winter, with a vessel which was not thought sufficient for the undertaking: And the same reason was urged against our proceeding directly for the Cape of Good Hope, with still more force, because no discovery of moment could be hoped for in that route; it was therefore resolved that we should return by the East Indies, and that with this view we should, upon leaving the coast, steer westward, till we should fall in with the east coast of New Holland, and then follow the direction of that coast to the northward, till we should arrive at its northern extremity; but if that should be found impracticable, it was further resolved that we should endeavour to fall in with the land, or islands, said to have been discovered by Quiros.

With this view, at break of day on Saturday the 31st of March, 1770, we got under sail, and put to sea, with the advantage of a fresh gale at S. E. and clear weather, taking our departure from the eastern point, which we had seen at noon on the 23d, and to which, on this occasion, I gave the name of Cape Farewell.

The bay out of which we had just sailed I called Admiralty Bay, giving the name of Cape Stephens to the northwest point, and Cape Jackson to the south-east, after the two gentlemen who at this time were secretaries to the board.

Admiralty Bay may easily be known by the island that has been just mentioned, which lies two miles N. E. of Cape Stephens, in latitude 40° 37′ S. longitude 185° 6′ W., and is of a considerable height. Between this island

and

and Cape Farewell, which are between fourteen and fifteen leagues distant from each other, in the direction of W. by N. and E. by S. the shore forms a large deep bay, the bottom of which we could scarcely see while we were sailing in a straight line from one Cape to the other; it is, however, probably of less depth than it appeared to be, for as we found the water shallower here, than at the same distance from any other part of the coast, there is reason to suppose, that the land at the bottom which lies next the sea is low, and therefore not easily to be distinguished from it. I have for this reason called it Blind Bay, and am of opinion that it is the same which was called Murderer's Bay by Tasman.3

SECTION XXVIII.

The Run from New Zealand to Botany Bay, on the East Coast of New Holland, now called New South Wales; various Incidents that happened there; with some Account of the Country and its Inhabitants.

HAVING sailed from Cape Farewell, which lies in latitude 40° 33′ S., longitude 180° W., on Saturday the 31st of March, 1770, we steered westward, with a fresh gale at N. N. E., and at noon on the 2d of April, our latitude, by observation, was 40°, our longitude from Cape Farewell g

31 W.

In the morning of the 9th, being in latitude 38° 29′ S. we saw a tropic bird, which in so high a latitude is very

uncommon.

In the morning of the 10th, being in latitude 38° 51′ S., longitude 200° 43′ W., we found the variation, by the amplitude, to be 11° 25' E. and by the azimuth 11° 20.

In the morning of the 11th, the variation was 13° 48', which is two degrees and a half more than the day before, though I expected to have found it less.

In

The three following sections of the original are occupied by unsatisfactory accounts of New Zealand, which it seemed very unadvisable to give here, as the subject must be resumed when we come to the third voyage of Captain Cook. It was equally objectionable to anticipate fuller information now, and to repeat imperfect notices hereafter. The present omission will be made up to the reader's content. We now go on with /

the remainder of the narrative.-E.

In the course of the 13th, being in latitude 39° 28' S., longitude 204 2 W., I found the variation to be 12° 27′ E., and in the morning of the 14th, it was 11° 30′; this day we also saw some flying fish. On the 15th, we saw an egg bird and a gannet, and as these are birds that never go far from the land, we continued to sound all night, but had no ground with 130 fathom. At noon on the 16th, we were in latitude 39° 45' S., longitude 208° W. At about two o'clock the wind came about to the W. S. W. upon which we tacked and stood to the N. W.; soon after, a small land-bird perched upon the rigging, but we had no ground with 120 fathom. At eight we wore and stood to the southward till twelve at night, and then wore and stood to the N. W. till four in the morning, when we again stood to the southward, having a fresh gale at W. S. W. with squalls and dark weather till nine, when the weather became clear, and there being little wind, we had an opportunity to take several observations of the sun and moon, the mean result of which gave 207° 56′ W. longitude: Our latitude at noon was 39° 36′ S. We had now a hard gale from the southward, and a great sea from the same quarter, which obliged us to run under our fore-sail and mizen all night, during which we sounded every two hours, but had no ground with 120 fathom.

In the morning of the 18th, we saw two Port Egmont hens, and a pintado bird, which are certain signs of approaching land, and indeed by our reckoning we could not be far from it, for our longitude was now one degree to the westward of the east side of Van Diemen's land, ac cording to the longitude laid down by Tasman, whom we could not suppose to have erred much in so short a run as from this land to New Zealand, and by our latitude we could not be above fifty or fifty-five leagues from the place whence he took his departure. All this day we had frequent squalls and a great swell. At one in the morning we brought-to and sounded, but had no ground with 130 fathom; at six we saw land extending from N. E, to W. at the distance of five or six leagues, having eighty fathom water with a fine sandy bottom.

We continued standing westward, with the wind at S. S. W. till eight, when we made all the sail we could, and bore away along the shore N. E. for the eastermost land in sight, being at this time in latitude 37° 58' S., and longi

tude

tude 210° 39′ W. The southermost point of land in sight, which bore from us W. S., I judged to lie in latitude 38°, longitude 211° 7', and gave it the name of Point Hicks, because Mr Hicks, the first lieutenant, was the first who discovered it. To the southward of this Point no land was to be seen, though it was very clear in that quarter, and by our longitude, compared with that of Tasman, not as it is laid down in the printed charts, but in the extracts from Tasman's journal, published by Rembrantse, the body of Van Diemen's land ought to have borne due south; and indeed, ftom the sudden falling of the sea after the wind abated, Id reason to think it did; yet as I did not see it, and as Fund this coast trend N. E. and S. W. or rather more to the eastward, I cannot determine whether it joins to Van Diemen's land or not.'

At noon, we were in latitude 370° 5′, longitude 210° 29′ W. The extremes of the land extended from N. W. to E. N. E. and a remarkable point bore N. 20 E. at the distance of about four leagues. This point rises in a round hillock, very much resembling the Ram-Head at the entrance of Plymouth Sound, and therefore I called it by the same name. The variation by an azimuth, taken this morning, was 3° 7′ E.; and what we had now seen of the land, appeared low and level: The sea-shore was a white sand, but the country within was green and woody. About one o'clock, we saw three water spouts at once; two were between us and the shore, and the third at some distance, upon our larboard quarter: This phænomenon is so well known, that it is not necessary to give a particular description of it here.

At six o'clock in the evening, we shortened sail, and brought-to for the night, having fifty-six fathom water, and a fine sandy bottom. The northermost land in sight then bore N. by E. E., and a small island lying close to a point on the main bore W. distant two leagues. This point, which I called Cape Howe, may be known by the trending of the coast, which is north on the one side, and south-west

This part of geography has been a good deal improved since Cook's time, as will be illustrated in progress. Van Diemen's land, which was formerly reckoned a part of New Holland, and is marked as such in the accompanying chart, is separated from it by Bass's Strait, which is about 30 leagues in breadth, and contains several groups of islands. Of these more hereafter.-E.

south-west on the other; it may also be known by some round hills upon the main, just within it.

We brought-to for the night, and at four in the morning made sail along shore to the northward. At six, the northermost land in sight bore N. N. W. and we were at this time about four leagues from the shore. At noon, we were in latitude 36 51′ S., longitude 209° 53′ W. and about three leagues distant from the shore. The weather being clear, gave us a good view of the country, which has a very pleasing appearance: It is of a moderate height, diversified by hills and vallies, ridges and plains, interspersed with a few lawns of no great extent, but in general covered with wood: The ascent of the hills and ries is gentle, and the summits are not high. We continued to sail along the shore to the northward, with a southerly wind, and in the afternoon we saw a smoke in several places, by which we knew the country to be inhabited. At six in the evening, we shortened sail, and sounded: We found forty-four fathom water, with a clear sandy bottom, and stood on under an easy sail till twelve, when we brought-to for the night, and had ninety fathom water.

At four in the morning, we made sail again, at the distance of about five leagues from the land, and at six, we were abreast of a high mountain, lying near the shore, which, on account of its figure, I called Mount Dromedary: Under this mountain the shore forms a point, to which I gave the name of Point Dromedary, and over it there is a peaked hillock. At this time, being in latitude 36° 18 S., longitude 209° 55′ W. we found the variation to be 10° 42′ E.

Between ten and eleven, Mr Green and I took several observations of the sun and moon, the mean result of which gave 209° 17' longitude W. By an observation made the day before, our longitude was 210° 9′ W., from which 20' being subtracted, there remains 209° 49′, the longitude of the ship this day at noon, the mean of which, with this day's observation, gives 209° 33', by which I fix the longitude of this coast. At noon, our latitude was 35° 49' S., Cape Dromedary bore S. 30 W., at the distance of twelve leagues, and an open bay, in which were three or four small islands, bore N. W. by W. at the distance of five or six leagues. This bay seemed to afford but little shelter

VOL. XIII.

P