A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13Kerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
who very soon renewed their battery: A musquet was then fired through
one of their boats and this was an argument of sufficient weight, for
they immediately fell astern and left us.
From the point, of which we were now abreast, the land trends W. 1/2 S.
near a league, and then S.S.E. as far as we could see; and, besides the
islands that lay without us, we could see land round by the S.W. as far
as the N.W.; but whether this was the main or islands, we could not then
determine: The fear of losing the main, however, made me resolve to
follow its direction. With this view, I hauled round the point and
steered to the southward, but there being light airs all round the
compass, we made but little progress.
About one o'clock, a breeze sprung up at east, which afterwards came to
N.E. and we steered along the shore S. by E. and S.S.E. having from
twenty-five to eighteen fathom.
At about half an hour after seven in the evening, having run seven or
eight leagues since noon, I anchored in twenty-three fathom, not causing
to run any farther in the dark, as I had now land on both sides, forming
the entrance of a strait, bay, or river, lying S. by E. for on that
point we could see no land.
At day-break, on the 19th, the wind being still favourable, we weighed
and stood with an easy sail up the inlet, keeping nearest to the east
side. In a short time, two large canoes came off to us from the shore;
the people on board said, that they knew Toiava very well, and called
Tupia by his name. I invited some of them on board; and as they knew
they had nothing to fear from us, while they behaved honestly and
peaceably, they immediately complied: I made each of them some presents,
and dismissed them much gratified. Other canoes afterwards came up to us
from a different side of the bay; and the people on board of these also
mentioned the name of Toiava, and sent a young man into the ship, who
told us he was his grandson, and he also was dismissed with a present.
After having run about five leagues from the place where we had anchored
the night before, our depth of water gradually decreased to six fathom;
and not chusing to go into less, as it was tide of flood, and the wind
blew right up the inlet, I came to an anchor about the middle of the
channel, which is near eleven miles over; after which I sent two boats
out to sound, one on one side, and the other on the other.
The boats not having found above three feet more water than we were now
in, I determined to go no farther with the ship, but to examine the
head of the bay in the boats; for, as it appeared to run a good way
inland, I thought this a favourable opportunity to examine the interior
part of the country, and its produce.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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