The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World, Vol. III. Being the First of the Second VoyageCook, James
History
The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World, Vol. III. Being the First of the Second Voyage
Cook, James
Cook, James, 1728-1779 -- Travel; Explorers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Voyages around the world -- History -- 18th century
The 25th was the eighth fair day we had had successively; a
circumstance, I believe, very uncommon in this place, especially at this
season of the year. This fair weather gave us an opportunity to complete
our wood and water, to overhaul the rigging, calk the ship, and put her
in a condition for sea. Fair weather was, however, now at an end; for it
began to rain this evening, and continued, without intermission, till
noon the next day, when we cast off the shore fasts, hove the ship out
of the creek to her anchor, and steadied her with an hawser to the
shore.
On the 27th, hazy weather, with showers of rain. In the morning I set
out, accompanied by Mr. Pickersgill and the two Mr. Forsters, to explore
the arm or inlet I discovered the day I returned from the head of the
bay. After rowing about two leagues up it, or rather down, I found it to
communicate with the sea, and to afford a better outlet for ships bound
to the north, than the one I came in by. After making this discovery,
and refreshing ourselves on broiled fish and wild fowl, we set out for
the ship, and got on board at eleven o’clock at night; leaving two arms
we had discovered, and which run in the east, unexplored. In this
expedition we shot forty-four birds, sea-pies, ducks, &c., without going
one foot out of our way, or causing any other delay than picking them
up.
Having got the tents and every other article on board on the 28th, we
only now waited for a wind to carry us out of the harbour, and through
New Passage, the way I proposed to go to sea. Every thing being removed
from the shore, I set fire to the top-wood, &c., in order to dry a piece
of the ground we had occupied, which, next morning, I dug up, and sowed
with several sorts of garden seeds. The soil was such as did not promise
success to the planter; it was, however, the best we could find. At two
o’clock in the afternoon, we weighed with a light breeze, at S. W., and
stood up the bay for the new passage. Soon after we had got through,
between the east end of Indian Island and the west end of Long Island,
it fell calm, which obliged us to anchor in forty-three fathom water,
under the north side of the latter island.
In the morning of the 30th we weighed again with a light breeze at west,
which, together with all our boats a-head towing, was hardly sufficient
to stem the current; for, after struggling till six o’clock in the
evening, and not getting more than five miles from our last anchoring
place, we anchored under the north side of Long Island, not more than
one hundred yards from the shore, to which we fastened a hawser.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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