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
with the ship’s head to the eastward, and lay upon this tack till ten,
when, having increased our sounding to seventy-eight fathom, we wore and
lay with the ship’s head to the land till five in the morning, when we
made sail, and, at day-light, were greatly surprised to find ourselves
farther to the southward than we had been the evening before, though the
wind had been southerly, and blown fresh all night. We now saw the
breakers again within us, and passed them at the distance of one league.
They lie in latitude 28° 8ʹ S., stretching off east two leagues from a
point of land, under which is a small island. Their situation may always
be known by the peaked mountain which has been just mentioned, and which
bears from them S. W. by W.: for this reason I have named it MOUNT
WARNING. It lies seven or eight leagues inland, in latitude 28° 22ʹ S.
The land about it is high and hilly, but it is of itself sufficiently
conspicuous to be at once distinguished from every other object. The
point off which these shoals lie I have named POINT DANGER. To the
northward of this point the land is low, and trends N. W. by N.; but it
soon turns again more to the northward.
At noon we were about two leagues from the land, and, by observation, in
latitude 27° 46ʹ S., which was seventeen miles to the southward of the
log: our longitude was 206° 26ʹ W. Mount Warning bore S. 26 W. distant
fourteen leagues, and the northernmost land in sight bore N. We pursued
our course along the shore, at the distance of about two leagues, in the
direction of N. ¾ E. till between four and five in the afternoon, when
we discovered breakers on our larboard bow. Our depth of water was
thirty-seven fathom, and at sunset, the northernmost land bore N. by W.,
the breakers N. W. by W., distant four miles, and the northernmost land
set at noon, which formed a point, and to which I gave the name of POINT
LOOK-OUT, W. distant five or six miles, in the latitude of 27° 6ʹ. On
the north side of this point, the shore forms a wide open bay, which I
called MORETON’S BAY, in the bottom of which the land is so low that I
could but just see it from the top-mast head. The breakers lie between
three or four miles from Point Look-out; and at this time we had a great
sea from the southward, which broke upon them very high. We stood on N.
N. E. till eight o’clock, when having passed the breakers, and deepened
our water to fifty-two fathom, we brought to till midnight, when we made
sail again to the N. N. E. At four in the morning we had 135 fathom, and
when the day broke, I perceived that during the night I had got much
farther northward, and from the shore, than I expected from the course
we steered, for we were distant at least seven leagues; I therefore
hauled in N. W. by W., with a fresh gale at S. S. W. The land that was
farthest to the north the night before now bore S. S. W., distant six
leagues, and I gave it the name of CAPE MORETON, it being the north
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