, 779* mean o f the variation, from obfervations taken both in the
Oftober.
u w— * tore and afternoon, was i 20 Eaft.
At h a lf pail three in the afternoon, we loft light o f the
land ; and, from its breaking o f f fo fuddenly, conjedlured,
that what we had feen this day is an illand, or, perhaps, a
d u lle r o f illands, ly in g o ff the main land o f Japan ; but as
the illands, called by Janfen the Schildpads, and by Mr.
D’Anville Matlima, though laid down nearly in the fame
fituation, are not equal in extent to the land feen by us, we
muft leave this point undecided. Having kept a South W eft
courfe during the remaining part o f the day, we found
ourfelves, at midnight, in feventy Fathoms water, over a
bottom o f fine dark brown fand. We therefore hauled up
Friday 29. to the Eaftward, till morning, when we faw the land again,
about eleven leagues to the Southward o f that which we
had feen the day before ; and at eight, we were within fix
or feven miles o f the fhore, having carried in regular
foundings from fixty-five to twenty fathoms, over coarfe
fand and gravel. Un luck ily there was a haze over the land,
which hindered our diftinguilhing fmall objects on it. The
coaft is ftraight and unbroken, and runs nearly in a North
and South diredlion. Toward the fea the ground is low, but
rifes gradually into hills o f a moderate height, whofe tops
are tolerably even, and covered with wood.
At nine o’clock, the wind ihifting to the Southward, and
the fky lowring, we tacked and ftood o ff to the Eaft, and
foon after, we faw a veflel, clofe in with the land, Handing
along the ihqre to the Northward, and another in the oiling,
coming down on us before the wind. Objedtsof any kind,
belonging to a country fo famous, and yet fo little known,
it w ill be eafily conceived, muft have excited a general curi-
7 ofity,
ofity, and accordingly every foul on board was upon deck 075.
. October.
in an inftant, to gaze at them. As the veflel to windward »— .
approached us, fhe hauled farther o ff ihore ; upon which,
fearing that we fhould alarm them by the appearance o f a
purfuir, we brought the Ihips to, and fhe palled ahead o f
us, at the diftance o f about ha lf a mile. It would have
been eafy for us to have fpoken with them ; but perceiving,
by their manoeuvres, that they were much frightened, Cap- '
tain Gore was not w illin g to augment their terrors ; and,
thinking that we fhould have many better opportunities o f
communication with this people, fuffered them to go o ff
without interruption. Our diftance did not permit us to remark
any particulars regarding the men on board, who
feemed to be about fix in number, efpecially as the hazinefs
o f the weather precluded the ufe o f our glafies. According
to the beft conjectures we were able to form, the veflel was
about forty tons burthen. She had but one mail, on which
was hoifted a iquare fail, extended by a yard, aloft, the
braces o f which worked forward. Half-way down the fail,
came three pieces o f black cloth, at equal diftances from
each other. The veffel was higher at each end than in the
midlhip ; and we imagined, from her appearance and form,
that it was impoflible for her to fail any otherwife than
large.
At noon, the wind frefhened, and brought with it a good
deal o f rain ; by three, it had increafed fo much, that we
were reduced to our courfes ; at the fame time, the fea ran
as high as any one on board ever remembered to have feen
it. If the Japanefe veffels are, as Ktempfer defcribes them,
open in the ftern, it would not have been poflible for thofe
we faw, to have furvived the fu ry o f this ftorm ; but as the
appearance o f the weather, all the preceding part o f the