An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk IslandHunter, John
History
An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island
Hunter, John
New South Wales -- History -- Sources
At day-light in the morning of the 19th, we saw Sir Charles
Hardy's Island, bearing north 2 deg. 00' west, five leagues
distant; and Winchelsea, (or Lord Anson's Island, as marked in
Captain Carteret's chart) south 48 deg. 00' east; this last was
certainly the point which terminated the high land
before-mentioned, for we had kept it in sight since the evening
before, and were a-breast of it at two in the morning, and were
not more than fourteen or fifteen miles from it. Its latitude
will be 5 deg. 08' south, and the longitude 154 deg. 31' east.
Sir Charles Hardy's Island is low, level, and covered with wood;
its latitude is 4 deg. 41' south, and the longitude 154 deg. 20'
east.
At noon on the 19th, we saw high land bearing from west to
west-north-west. It was very cloudy over it, so that we could not
see its extent to the northward; it was distant eight or nine
leagues: the west point of it was, no doubt, Cape Saint George,
New Ireland. At six in the afternoon of the 20th, Cape Saint
George bore north 80 deg. 00' west, five leagues distant. We had
light winds during the night, and in the morning, the land was so
covered with clouds that we could not discover the extremity or
point of the Cape; we steered to the north-north-west, having
found, from the general bearings of the land, that we had been
set to the southward during the night: at noon it was clearer,
and the Cape bore north 14 deg. 00' east ten or eleven miles
distant. We had very light and baffling airs during the night of
the 21st, which made me apprehensive, from what Captain Carteret
has said of strong westerly currents here, that as we had now
opened St. George's Channel, we might be set past both Gower and
Carteret's harbours, before we could get as much wind as would
command the ship; for she was as dull and heavy sailing a vessel
as I ever was embarked in, and in my opinion was wholly unfit for
the service she was now employed in. When any other vessel would
be going three knots with a light wind, we could scarcely give
her steerage-way.
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