1789- contained feveral flying-fifti and fmall cuttlefifli, all of
» which I faved to be divided for dinner the next day.' '
Wednefday Wednefday the 27th. A frelh breeze at E SE, with fair
17' weather. Wc paffeS muèh drift wööd this forenoon, and
faw many birds; I therefore did riot heiitate to pronounce
that wè were near the reefs .of New Hólland. • From my
recollection of Captain Goofs furve^oFtMs^caafft^I'èbn-
fidered the_dïreétiön of it to he | N-W, and-I was therefore
fatisfied thatj with the wind to the fouthward of E, I could?-
alwayscléar any dangers:“ -
At noon, I obferved "in latitude *i3?,_a6? S:y courfe-fince*
^ yefferday'N; pi9 W, dïftance'109=’miles; lorigifudé’ made
390 4' W.”LAfter writing thy. account, I divided the two-
birds with thfeir-entrails, and. tKê .cóhtêöfs o f theirhnaw'v
into 18* portions, and, as fhe prize' was A v e iy valuable <* one, -
it was divided* a^ before, by calling imvJPbo-JbaM have tip s f“
fo that to-day, with the allowance? o T a 25th'of-"'arpound of
bread-at breakfaft, and-ariother at dinner, with-the pVopor--
. tion d f water? TWas happy to fee-that évery-pérfon ththight-
he had feafted. x
In the evening, we faw’ a' ganrret;v and ’the clouds remained
fo; fixed in the weft, that' I had little doubt of our
being near theEland.: Thé people, after iakirfg their
allowance o f water for fupper? amtifed - themfelveS v-With
converting on the probability of what we Ihould find-
TKlrfday 28. Thurfday the a8th. At one in the morning,- the-'pbrfan
at the helm heard the found of breakers, and Tno fbonër
lifted up my head-, than I faw them clofe under our lee, not
more than a "quarter df a mile difiant from us. I immediately
hauled on a wind to tbe N NE,. arid in-ten minutes
time we could neither fee nor hear therm.
I have
I5 have already mentioned my reafon for making New
Holland fo far to the fouthward: for I never doubted of
numerous openings in the reef, through which I could
have accefs to the .fhore,: and, knowing the inchnation of
the ccaft- to be to the N W, and the wind moftly to the
fouthward of E, .1 could with eafe range fuch a barrier o f
reefs till I fhould find a paffage, which- now became ab-
folutely neeefl&ry, without a moment’s lofs of time. . The
idea ofi getting into fmooth water, and finding refrefh-
ments, - kept my- people’s fpirits up: their joy was very
great after we had got clear ;of the breakers, to which we
had approached much nearer than' I thought- was poffible,
without'firftdlfcovtering them.-
In the morning, at day-light, we. could fee-nothing of
the land or riftheueefs.- We bore away again, and at nine
' o’clock, faw'the,reefs; The fea broke furioufly over every
part, -and we had ho fooner got near to them, than the wind
came at E, fo" that;we. could only lie along the line of the
- breakers withinwltich .we faw the water fo. fmooth, that-
every peffon already anticipated the heart-felt fatisfadhon
. he fhould receive,- as foon as we could get within them. I -
now found we:w e r e embayed, for we could not lie clear with
thfe fails, the wind having, hacked agaifift us « the fea fet
in fo heavy towards the reef, that our fituation was become
unfafe ■ We could effeft but little with the oars, having
- fcarce ftrength to pull them? and l began to apprehend that
we Ihould be' obliged to attempt puOung over the reef.
Even this I did not defpair of-: effedting with fuccefsy when
happily we difcovered a break in the reef, about one:-m^e
from us, and at the. fame time an lfland of a moderate
height - within it, nearly in' the fame diredtion, beating
W f N,- I entered the paffage. with a ftrong ftream run-
1789-
M A r .
Friday-2 e.