o
i3a A VOYAGE TOWARDS THE SOUTH POLE,
1774- reef too trended away W. by N. 4 N., and feemed to terminate
September^ .• ^ • t' whjc;1 was feen from the maft-head. Thus every
Wcdnef.H. thing confpjred to make us believe that we fliould foon get
round thefe fhoals; and with thefe flattering expectations we
hauled the wind, which was at E. N. E-, and fpent the night,
making fhort boards..
Thurflay is. Next morning at fun-rife, feeing neither land nor breakers,
we bore away bl. W. by W., and two hours after faw the reef
extending N. W. farther than the eye could reach; but no-
land was to be feen. It was therefore probable, that we
had'paffed its N. W* extremityand, as we had feen from the
hills, of Baladq its extent to the S. W., it was neceffary to
know how far it extended to the fa il or S. E., while it. was in
our po\y?r to recover the coaft- For, by following the direction
of the fhoals, we might have been carried fo far to leeward
as not to be able to beat back without confidcrable lofs of
time. We were already far out of fight of land;, and there
was no knowing how much farther we might be carried,
before we found an end to them. Thefe confiderations, together
with the rifque we mud run. in exploring a fea ftrewed
with fhoals, and where no anchorage, without them, is to be
found, induced me to abandon the defign of proceeding round
by the N. W „ and to ply up to. the S. E., in which direction I
knew there was a. clear fea. With this, view, we tacked and
flood to the S. E., with the wind at N. E. by E., a gentle breeze.
At this time we were in the latitude of 19:° 7' S. longitude
163° s i Fart.
In Handing to S. E.» we did but juft weather the point of
the reef we had palled the preceding evening. To make
our fituation the more dangerous, the wind began to fail us ;
and at three in the afternoon it fell calm, and left us to the
mercy
mercy of a great fwell, fetting direftly on the reef, which
was hardly a league from us. We founded, but found no «.— ----<
bottom with a line of 200 fathoms. I ordered the pinnace and lhurHa)' ,Si
cutter to be hoifted out to tow the Ihip; but they were o f little
ufe againft fo great a fwell. We, however, found that the
Ihip did not. draw near the reef fo fall as might be expedted;
and at feven o’clock, a light air at N. N. E. kept her head to
the fea ; but it lafted no longer than midnight, when it was
fucceeded by a dead calm.
At day-bteak on the 16th, we had no light of the reef ; Friday 16.
and at eleven, a breeze fpringing up at S. S. W., we hoifted
in the boats, and made fail to S. E. At noon we obferved in
19° 35' South, which was confiderably more to the South
than we expedted, and fhewed that a current or tide had
been in our favour all night, and accounted for our getting
fo unexpectedly clear o f the fhoals. At two o’clock P. M. we
had again a calm which lafted till nine, when it was fucceeded
by a light air from E. N. E. and Eaft, with which we advanced
but flowly.
On the 17th at noon, we obferved in latitude 190 54', when Saturday 17,
the Ille of Balabea bore S. 68° Weft, ten and a half leagues
diftant. We continued to ply, with variable light winds between
N. E. and S. E., without meeting with any thing remarkable
till the 20th at noon, when Cape Colnet bore N. Snnday l3.
78° Weft, diftant fix leagues. From this cape the land extended
round by the South to E, S. E,, till it was loft in the
horizon j and the country appeared with many hills and
vallies. Latitude obferved 20° 41', longitude made from
Obfervatory Ifle r° 8' Eaft. We flood in fhore with a light
breeze at Eaft till fun-fet, when' we were between two and
three leagues off. The coafl; extended from S. 420 4 Eaft to N.
S 2 590 Weft