1769. ging much damaged; neither of which inconvenieneies we
ebruary. _ , p t
_,__> had now fufFered. But fupponng it more eligible to go
round the Cape, than through the Streight of Magellan; it
may ftiil be queftioned, whether it is better to go through
the Streight of Le Maire, or ftand to the eaflward, and go
round Staten Land. The advice given in the Account o f
Lord Anfon’s voyage is, “ That all Ihips bound to the South
“ Seas, inftead of palling through the Streight o f Le Maire,.
“ Ihould conftantly pafs to the eaflward of Staten Land, and
‘t Ihould be invariably bent on running to the fouthward as
“ far as the latitude of 61 or 62 degrees, before they endea-
“ vour to ftand to the weftward.” But, in my opinion, different
circumftances may at one time render it eligible to
pafs through the Streight, and to beep to the eaflward of
Staten Land at another. If the land is fallen in with to the’
weftward of the Streight, and the wind is favourable for
going through, I think it would be very injudicious to lofe
time by going round Staten Land, as I am confident that, by
attending to the directions which I have given, the Streight
may be palled with the utmoft fafety and convenience: but
if, on the contrary, the land is fallen in with to the eaflward.
of the Streight, and the wind Ihould prove tempcftuous or.
unfavourable, I think it would be belt to go round Staten
Land. But I cannot in any cafe concur in recommending
the running into the latitude of 61 or 62, before any endeavour
is made to ftand to the weftward. We found neither
the current nor the ftorms which the running fo far to the
fouthward is fuppofed neceffary to avoid; and indeed, as the
winds almoft conftantly blow from that quarter, it is fcarcely
poffible to purfue the advice. The navigator has no choice
hut to ftand to the fouthward, elofe upon a wind, and by.
keeping upon that tack, he will not only make fouthing*
but wefting; and, i f the wind varies towards the north of
the
the weft, his wefting will be confiderable. It will, indeed,
be highly proper to make fure o f a wefting fufficient to <— ^— '
double all the lands, before an attempt is made to ftand to
the northward, and to this every man’s own prudence will
of neceffity direcft him.
We now began to have ftrong gales and heavy feas, with
irregular intervals Of calm and fine weather.
CHAP. VII.
'ïh e Sequel o f the Paffage from Cape Horn to the newly
' difcovered Ifa n d s in the South Seas, with a Defcription
o f their Figure a n d appearance; fem e Account o f the
Inhabitants, and fe v e r a l Incidents that happened during
the Courfe, and a t the Ship's A r r iv a l among them.
ON tlvè 1 ft of March, we were in latitude 38° 44 S. and
longitude n o " 33 W. both by obfervation and by the
log. This agreement, after a run of 660 leagues, was
thought to be very extraordinary; and is a demonftration,
that after we left the land of Cape Horn we had no current
that affected the fhip. It renders it alfo highly probable, that
we had been near no land of any confiderable extent; for
currents are always found when land is not remote, and
fometimes, particularly on the eaft fide of the continent in
the North Sea, when land has been diftant' 100 leagues:
Many birds, as ufual, were conftantly about the Ihip, fo
that Mr. Banks killed no lefs than 62 in one day ; and what
is more remarkable, he caught two foreft flies, both of them
o f the fame fpecies, but different from any that have hither-
K 2 to