The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. II. Being the Second of the First VoyageCook, James
History
The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. II. Being the Second of the First Voyage
Cook, James
Cook, James, 1728-1779 -- Travel; Explorers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Voyages around the world -- History -- 18th century
At noon, on the 26th, being in latitude 10° 47ʹ S., longitude 249° 52ʹ
W., we found the variation to be 3° 10ʹ W., and our situation to be
twenty-five miles to the northward of the log; for which I know not how
to account. At noon, on the 27th, our latitude by observation, was 10°
51ʹ S., which was agreeable to the log; and our longitude was 252° 11ʹ
W. We steered N. W. all day on the 28th, in order to make the land of
Java; and at noon, on the 29th, our latitude by observation was 9° 31ʹ
S., longitude 254° 10ʹ W.; and in the morning of the 30th, I took into
my possession the log-book and journals, at least all I could find, of
the officers, petty officers, and seamen, and enjoined them secrecy with
respect to where they had been.
At seven in the evening, being in the latitude of Java Head, and not
seeing any land, I concluded that we were too far to the westward: I
therefore hauled up E. N. E., having before steered N. by E. In the
night, we had thunder and lightning; and about twelve o’clock, by the
light of the flashes, we saw the land bearing east. I then tacked and
stood to the S. W. till four o’clock in the morning of the 1st of
October; and at six, Java Head, or the west end of Java, bore S. E. by
E., distant five leagues: soon after we saw Prince’s Island, bearing E.
½ S.; and at ten, the island of Cracatoa, bearing N. E. Cracatoa is a
remarkably high-peaked island, and at noon it bore N. 40 E., distant
seven leagues.
I must now observe, that during our run from Savu, I allowed twenty
minutes a-day for the westerly current, which I concluded must run
strong at this time, especially off the coast of Java, and I found that
this allowance was just equivalent to the effect of the current upon the
ship.
At four o’clock in the morning of the 2d, we fetched close in with the
coast of Java, in fifteen fathom; we then stood along the coast, and
early in the forenoon, I sent the boat ashore to try if she could
procure some fruit for Tupia, who was very ill, and some grass for the
buffaloes that were still alive. In an hour or two she returned with
four cocoa-nuts, and a small bunch of plantains, which had been
purchased for a shilling, and some herbage for the cattle, which the
Indians not only gave us, but assisted our people to cut. The country
looked like one continued wood, and had a very pleasant appearance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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