The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. VI. Being the Second of the Third VoyageCook, James
History
The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. VI. Being the Second of the Third Voyage
Cook, James
Cook, James, 1728-1779 -- Travel; Explorers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Voyages around the world -- History -- 18th century
At eight in the evening, we stood in for the land, till we were within a
league of the above-mentioned small islands. The westernmost part of the
continent now in sight, being a low point facing Trinity Island, and
which we called _Cape Trinity_, now bore west north-west. In this
situation, having tacked in fifty-four fathoms water, over a bottom of
black sand, we stood over for the island, intending to work up between
it and the main. The land to the westward of Two-headed Point is not so
mountainous as it is to the north-east of it, nor does the snow lie upon
it. There are, however, a good many hills considerably elevated; but
they are disjoined by large tracts of flat land that appeared to be
perfectly destitute of wood, and very barren.
As we were standing over toward the island, we met two men in a small
canoe, paddling from it to the main. Far from approaching us, they
seemed rather to avoid it. The wind now began to incline to the south;
and we had reason to expect, that it would soon be at south-east.
Experience having taught us, that a south-easterly wind was generally,
if not always, accompanied by a thick fog, I was afraid to venture
through between the island and the continent, lest the passage should
not be accomplished before night, or before the thick weather came on,
when we should be obliged to anchor, and by that means lose the
advantage of a fair wind. These reasons induced me to stretch out to
sea; and we passed two or three rocky islets that lie near the east end
of Trinity Island. At four in the afternoon, having weathered the
island, we tacked, and steered west, southerly, with a fresh gale at
south south-east; which, before midnight, veered to the south-east; and
was, as usual, attended with misty, drizzling, rainy weather.
By the course we steered all night, I was in hopes of falling in with
the continent in the morning. And, doubtless, we should have seen it,
had the weather been in the least clear; but the fog prevented. Seeing
no land at noon, and the gale increasing, with a thick fog and rain, I
steered west north-west, under such sail as we could easily haul the
wind with; being fully sensible of the danger of running before a strong
gale in a thick fog, in the vicinity of an unknown coast. It was,
however, necessary to run some risk when the wind favoured us; for clear
weather, we had found, was generally accompanied with winds from the
west.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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