C H A P. IV.
An Account of the Difcovery of £j>ueen Charlotte's Jfunds,
with a Defcription of theTn and ’their Inhabitants, and
o f what happened at Egmont I f and. ;
>1767. r i p HE fcurvy Hill continued to make great progrefs
,._A"g“a' . JL among us, and thofe hands that were not rendered
y ie ld s ' by difeafe,! were worh'&dtoh; by exc£ffive labour
our vefiel,' which at bell was a dull failer, had been long in
fo bad a condition that fhe would not w o rk ; and on the
Monday .0. xothy to render our condition ftill more diftrefsful and
alarming, fhe fprupg a leak in rhe bows, which being under
water, it was impoffible to get at while we wenf at fea.
Wednef. 12. Such wa.s our fituation, when on the :j 2th, at break of day,
' w e difcovered land: the fudden tranfport. o f hope and joy
vwhich tbis.infpired, can perhaps be equalled only by that
Awhich a criminal feels who hears the cry of a reprieve at
\ithe place of execution. The land proved to be a duller of
iflands, of which I counted feven, and believe there were
many more. We kept on for two of them, which were right
a-head when land was firft difcovered, and feemed to lie
"\clofe together; in the evening we anchored on the north
eaft fide of-one of them, which was the largeft and the
higheft o f the two, in about thirty fathom, with a good
bottom, and at the diftance o f about three cables’ length
. from the fhore. We foon after faw two of the natives, who
were black, with woolly heads, and dark naked ; I imme-
■ diately fent the Matter out with the boat to fix upon a
watering-
J. att. 8. 3 O. S'truth
Tyrawleys Bainl
Ca p e i B o s c a w e n