1770- ments could be procured, and Mr. Banks, in his little boat.
<_—,— 1 accompanied by Dr. Solander, went with them. In this fitu-
Fnday 17' ation I found the variation by amplitude and azimuth to be
4° 9' E .; and at noon, our latitude by obfervation was 12°
38' S. and our longitude 216° 45' W. The main land extended
from N. 66 W. to S. W. by S. and the neared part of it was
diftant about nine leagues. The opening through which we
had paffed, I called P r o v i d e n t i a l C h a n n e l ; and this bore
E. N. E. diftant ten or twelve miles : on the main land within
us was a lofty promontory which I called C a p e W e y m
o u t h ; on the north fide of which is a bay, which I called
W e y m o u t h B a y : they lie in latitude 120 42' S., longitude
2170 r5' W. At four o’clock in the afternoon the boats returned
with two hundred and forty pounds of the meat of
fliell-filh, chiefly o f cockles, fome of which were as much as
two men could move, and contained twenty pounds of good
meat. Mr. Banks alfo brought back many curious Ihells,
and Mollufca; befides many fpecies of coral, among which
was that called the 'lubiponi mujlca.
Saturday 18. At fix o’clock in the morning, we got under fail and flood
away to the N. W. having two boats ahead to diretft u s ; our
foundings were very irregular, varying five or fix fathom
every call, between ten and twenty-feven. A little before
noon, we palled a low fandy ifland, which we left on our
{larboard fide, at the diftance of two miles. At noon, our
latitude was 14° 28', and our diftance from the main about
four leagues: it extended from S. by W. to N. 71 W. and
fome fmall illands from N. 40 W. to 34 W. Between us and
the main were feveral Ihoals, and fome without us, befides
the main or outermoft reef, which we could fee from the
mail-head, ftretching away to the N. E. At two in the afternoon,
as we were fleering N. W. by N. we faw a large
fhoal right ahead, extending three or four points upon each
bow;
bov7; upon this we hauled up N. N. E. and N. E; by N. to get 1770-
round the north point of it, which we reached by four, and -_
then edged away to the weftward, and ran between the north Satar ay l8‘ '
end of this fhoal and another, which- lies two miles to the
northward of it, having a boat all the way ahead founding ;
our depth Of water was Hill very irregular, from twenty-two
to eight fathom. At half an hour after fix; we anchored in
thirteen fathom: the northermoft of the fmall illands feen at
noon bore W. if S. diftant three miles: thefe illands are dif-
tinguiflied in the chart by the name of F o r b e s ’ s I s l a n d s ,
and lie about five leagues from the main, which here forms
a high point that- we called B o l t - H e a d , from which the
land trends more wefterly, and - is in that direction all low
and fandy ; to the fouthward it. is high and hilly even near;
the fea.
At fix in the morning we got again under fail, and fleered5 Sunday 19.
for an ifland which lay at a fmall diftance from the main,
and at this time bore from us N. 40 W. diftant about five
leagues: our courfe was foon interrupted by-Ihoals; however,
by the help of the. boats, and a good look, out from the
top of the mall, we got into a fair channel that led us down,
to the ifland, between a very large fhoal on our ftarboard-
fide and feveral fmall ones towards the main: in this channel
we had from twenty to thirty fathom-water. Between,
eleven and twelve o’clock-wehauled round the north eaft
fide of the ifland, leaving it between us and the main, from
which it is diftant about feven or eight miles. This ifland is ■
about a league in circuit, and we faw upon it five of the natives,
two of whom had lances in their hands-; they came
down upon a point, and having looked a little while at the
Ihip, retired. To the N. W. of it are feveral low illands and
quays, which lie not far from the main; and to the northward