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Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.Major, Richard Henry

History

Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.

Name: Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.
Author: Major, Richard Henry

Major, Richard Henry

Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Discoveries in geography -- Portuguese; Voyages and travels

But to proceed; in the night we had a small land breeze, and in the
morning I weighed anchor, designing to run in among the islands, for
they had large channels between them, of a league wide at least, and
some two or three leagues wide. I sent in my boat before to sound, and
if they found shoal water to return again; but if they found water
enough, to go ashore on one of the islands, and stay till the ship came
in: where they might in the mean time search for water. So we followed
after with the ship, sounding as we went in, and had twenty fathoms,
till within two leagues of the Bluff head, and then we had shoal water,
and very uncertain soundings: yet we ran in still with an easy sail,
sounding and looking out well, for this was dangerous work. When we came
abreast of the Bluff head, and about two mile from it, we had but seven
fathom: then we edg’d away from it, but had no more water; and running
in a little farther, we had but four fathoms; so we anchored
immediately; and yet when we had veered out the third of a cable, we had
seven fathom water again; so uncertain was the water. My boat came
immediately aboard, and told me that the island was very rocky and dry,
and they had little hopes of finding water there. I sent them to sound,
and bade them, if they found a channel of eight or ten fathom water, to
keep on and we would follow with the ship. We were now about four
leagues within the outer small rocky islands, but still could see
nothing but islands within us; some five or six leagues long, others not
above a mile round. The large islands were pretty high; but all appeared
dry, and mostly rocky and barren. The rocks look’d of a rusty yellow
colour, and therefore I despaired of getting water on any of them; but
was in some hopes of finding a channel to run in beyond all these
islands, could I have spent time here, and either get to the main of New
Holland, or find out some other islands that might afford us water and
some other refreshments: besides, that among so many islands, we might
have found some sort of rich mineral, or ambergreece, it being a good
latitude for both of these. But we had not sailed above a league farther
before our water grew shoaler again, and then we anchored in six fathom
hard land.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.

Major, Richard Henry

Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Discoveries in geography -- Portuguese; Voyages and travels

But to proceed; in the night we had a small land breeze, and in the
morning I weighed anchor, designing to run in among the islands, for
they had large channels between them, of a league wide at least, and
some two or three leagues wide. I sent in my boat before to sound, and
if they found shoal water to return again; but if they found water
enough, to go ashore on one of the islands, and stay till the ship came
in: where they might in the mean time search for water. So we followed
after with the ship, sounding as we went in, and had twenty fathoms,
till within two leagues of the Bluff head, and then we had shoal water,
and very uncertain soundings: yet we ran in still with an easy sail,
sounding and looking out well, for this was dangerous work. When we came
abreast of the Bluff head, and about two mile from it, we had but seven
fathom: then we edg’d away from it, but had no more water; and running
in a little farther, we had but four fathoms; so we anchored
immediately; and yet when we had veered out the third of a cable, we had
seven fathom water again; so uncertain was the water. My boat came
immediately aboard, and told me that the island was very rocky and dry,
and they had little hopes of finding water there. I sent them to sound,
and bade them, if they found a channel of eight or ten fathom water, to
keep on and we would follow with the ship. We were now about four
leagues within the outer small rocky islands, but still could see
nothing but islands within us; some five or six leagues long, others not
above a mile round. The large islands were pretty high; but all appeared
dry, and mostly rocky and barren. The rocks look’d of a rusty yellow
colour, and therefore I despaired of getting water on any of them; but
was in some hopes of finding a channel to run in beyond all these
islands, could I have spent time here, and either get to the main of New
Holland, or find out some other islands that might afford us water and
some other refreshments: besides, that among so many islands, we might
have found some sort of rich mineral, or ambergreece, it being a good
latitude for both of these. But we had not sailed above a league farther
before our water grew shoaler again, and then we anchored in six fathom
hard land.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.

Early Voyages to Terra Australis, Now Called Australia:: A Collection of Documents, and Extracts from Early Manuscript Maps, Illustrative of the History of Discovery on the Coasts of That Vast Island, from the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century to the Time of Captain Cook.

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