Apir7i?l.9*
Sunday n .
Monday 12.
Tuefday 13»
given, b e in g 33' 30' North, and its longitude 166’ Eaft. Not-
withftanding w e were fo far advanced to the Northward, we
faw this day a tropic bird, and alfo feveral other kinds o f
& a -b ird s ; fuch as puffins, fea-parrots, iheerwaters, and al-
batrofles.
On the eleventh, at noon, w e were in latitude 35* 30',
longitude 165 45'; and d uring the courfe o f the day, had
fea-birds, as before, and palled feveral bunches o f fea-weed.
About the fame time, the Difcovery palled a lo g o f wood;
but no other ligns o f land were feen.
T h e next day the wind came g rad u ally round to the Eaft,
and increafed to fo ftrong a ga le, as obliged us to ftrike our
top-gallant yards, and brought us under the lower fails,
and the main top-fail clofe reefed. Unfortunately we were
upon that tack, w h ich was the moll difadvantageous fo r our
leak. But, as w e had always been able to ke ep it under
with the hand-pumps, it g a v e us no great uneafinefs, till
the 13th, about fix in the afternoon, when we were greatly
alarmed by a fudden inundation, that deluged the whole
fpace between decks. T h e water, w hich had lodged in the
coal-hole, not finding a fufficient vent into the well, had
forced up the platforms over it, and in a moment let e ve ry
thing afloat. Our fituation was indeed exceedingly diftreiP.
i n g ; nor did we immediately fee any means o f re liev in g
ourfe-lves.- A pump, throu gh the upper decks into the coalhole,
could anfwer no end, as it would ve ry foon have been
choaked up b y the fmall coals; and, to bale the water out
w ith buckets, was become impracticable, from the number
o f b u lk y materials that were waffied out o f the gu n n e r’s
ftore-room into it, and which, by the ih ip ’s motion, were
toiled violently from fide to fide. No other method was
therefore
therefore left, but to cut a hole through the bulk-head (or 177?.
partition) that feparated the coal-hole from the fore-hold, ■ Ap? ]' ■
and b y that means to make a pafiage fo r the body o f water
into the w ell. However, before that could be done, it was
necefiary to ge t the calks o f dry provifions out o f the fo re hold,
w h ich kept us employed the greateft part o f the n igh t;
fo that the carpenters could not ge t at the partition till the
next morning. As foon as a pafiage was made, the greateft Wednef. M,
part o f the water emptied it fe lf into the well, and enabled
us to ge t out the reft w ith buckets. But the lea k was now
fo much increafed, that we were obliged to keep one h a lf o f
the people conftantly p ump ing and baleing, till the noon o f
the 15th. Our men bore, w ith great cheerfulnefs, this ex- Thurfday.j.
ceffive fatigu e, w hich was much increafed by their having
n o dry place to fleep in ; and, on this account, we began to
ferve their fu ll allowance o f grog.
T he weather n ow becoming more moderate, and the fwell
lefs heavy, we were enabled to clear away the reft o f the
caiks from the fore-hold, and to open a fufficient pafiage
fo r the water to the pumps. This day w e faw a g re en iih
piece o f drift-wood, and fan cy in g the water coloured, we
founded, but got no bottom with a hundred and fixty fa thoms
o f line. Our latitude, at, noon this day, was 41° 52',
longitude 16T 15'; variation 6° 3 0 'Eaft; and the wind foon
after veering to the Northward, we altered our courfe three
points to the Weft.
On the 16th, at noon, we were in the latitude o f 42* 12', Friday re.
and in the longitude o f 160*5'; and as we were now approaching
the place where a great extent o f land is faid
to have been feen by De Gama, we were glad o f the opportunity
which the courfe w e were fleering gave, o f contributing
to remove the doubts, i f any ihould be ftill en-
a 2 tertained,