A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 12: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the; Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea; and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present TimeKerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 12: Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the; Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea; and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
AT eight the next morning we weighed, and soon after we made sail opened
the South Sea, from which such a swell rolled in upon us as I have
seldom seen. At four o'clock in the afternoon, we anchored in a very
good bay, with a deep sound at the bottom of it, by which it may be
known, about a league to the eastward of Cape Upright, in fourteen
fathom. The extreme point of the bay bore from N.W. to N.E. by E. and
Cape Upright W.N.W. about a cable's length to the eastward of a low
island which makes the bay.
At three o'clock in the morning of the 24th, I sent a boat with an
officer from each ship, to look for anchoring-places to the westward;
but at four in the afternoon, they returned without having been able to
get round Cape Upright.
The next morning I sent the boats again to the westward, and about six
in the evening they returned, having been about four leagues, and found
two anchoring-places, but neither of them were very good. We made sail,
however, about eight in the forenoon of the next day, and at three, Cape
Upright bore E.S.E. distant about three leagues, a remarkable cape on
the north shore at the same time bearing N.E. distant four or five
miles. This cape, which is very lofty and steep, lies N.N.W. by compass
from Cape Upright, at the distance of about three leagues. The south
shore in this place had a very bad appearance, many sunken rocks lying
about it to a considerable distance, upon which the sea breaks very
high. At four the weather became very thick, and in less than half an
hour we saw the south shore at the distance of about a mile, but could
get no anchoring-place; we therefore tacked, and stood over to the north
shore. At half an hour after six, I made the Tamar signal to come under
our stern, and ordered her to keep a-head of us all night, and to show
lights, and fire a gun every time she changed her tack. At seven it
cleared up for a moment just to show us the north shore, bearing W. by
N. We tacked immediately, and at eight the wind shifted from N.N.W. to
W.N.W. and blew with great violence. Our situation was now very
alarming; the storm increased every minute, the weather was extremely
thick, the rain seemed to threaten another deluge, we had a long dark
night before us, we were in a narrow channel, and surrounded on every
side by rocks and breakers. We attempted to clue up the mizen top-sail,
but before this service could be done it was blown all to rags: We then
brought-to, with the main and fore-topsail close-reefed, and upon the
cap, keeping the ship's head to the southwest; but there being a
prodigious sea, it broke over us so often that the whole deck was almost
continually under water. At nine, by an accidental breaking of the fog,
we saw the high cape on the north shore that has been just mentioned,
bearing east, at about a mile distance; but we had entirely lost sight
of the Tamar. At half an hour after three in the morning, we suddenly
perceived ourselves close to a high land on the south shore, upon which
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