In the morning of the 18th, we saw two Port Egmont hens, and a pintado bird, which are certain signs of approaching land, and indeed by our reckoning we could not be far from it, for our longitude was now one degree to the westward of the east side of Van Diemen's land, according to the longitude laid down by Tasman, whom we could not suppose to have erred much in so short a run as from this land to New Zealand, and by our latitude we could not be above fifty or fifty-five leagues from the place whence he took his departure. All this day we had frequent squalls and a great swell. At one in the morning we brought-to and sounded, but had no ground with 130 fathom; at six we saw land extending from N.E. to W. at the distance of five or six leagues, having eighty fathom, water with a fine sandy bottom. We continued standing westward, with the wind at S.S.W. till eight, when we made all the sail we could, and bore away along the shore N.E. for the eastermost land in sight, being at this time in latitude 37° 58' S., and longitude 210° 39' W. The southermost point of land in sight, which bore from us W. 1/4 S., I judged to lie in latitude 38°, longitude 211° 7', and gave it the name of _Point Hicks_, because Mr Hicks, the first lieutenant, was the first who discovered it. To the southward of this Point no land was to be seen, though it was very clear in that quarter, and by our longitude, compared with that of Tasman, not as it is laid down in the printed charts, but in the extracts from Tasman's journal, published by Rembrantse, the body of Van Diemen's land ought to have borne due south; and indeed, from the sudden falling of the sea after the wind abated, I had reason to think it did; yet as I did not see it, and as I found this coast trend N.E. and S.W. or rather more to the eastward, I cannot determine whether it joins to Van Diemen's land or not.[69] [Footnote 69: This part of geography has been a good deal improved since Cook's time, as will be illustrated in progress. Van Diemen's land, which was formerly reckoned a part of New Holland, and is marked as such in the accompanying chart, is separated from it by Bass's Strait, which is about 30 leagues in breadth,' and contains several groups of islands. Of these more hereafter.--E.]