So Much As We
Could See Of This Space Was Strewed With Shoals, Seemingly Detached From
Each Other; And The Channel Leading In Amongst Them Appeared To Be On The
S.E. Side Of The Sandy Isle; At Least, There Was A Space Where The Sea Did
Not Break.
At sun-set we could but just see the land, which bore S.W. by
S., about ten leagues distant.
A clear horizon produced the discovery of no
land to the westward of this direction; the reef too trended away W. by N.
1/2 N., and seemed to terminate in a point which was seen from the mast-
head. Thus every thing conspired to make us believe that we should soon get
round these shoals; and with these flattering expectations we hauled the
wind, which was at E.N.E., and spent the night making short boards.
Next morning at sun-rise, seeing neither land nor breakers, we bore away
N.W. by W., and two hours after saw the reef extending N.W. farther than
the eye could reach; no land was to be seen. It was therefore probable that
we had passed its N.W. extremity; and, as we had seen from the hills of
Balade its extent to the S.W., it was necessary to know how far it extended
to the east or southeast, while it was in our power to recover the coast;
for, by following the direction of the shoals, we might have been carried
so far to leeward as not to be able to beat back without considerable loss
of time. We were already far out of sight of land; and there was no knowing
how much farther we might be carried, before we found an end to them. These
considerations, together with the risk we must run in exploring a sea
strewed with shoals, and where no anchorage, without them, is to be found,
induced me to abandon the design of proceeding round by the N.W., and to
ply up to the S.E, in which direction I knew there was a clear sea. With
this view we tacked and stood to the S.E., with the wind at N.E. by E., a
gentle breeze. At this time we were in the latitude of 19 deg. 7' S., longitude
163 deg. 57' E.
In standing to the S.E. we did but just weather the point of the reef we
had passed the preceding evening. To make our situation the more dangerous
the wind began to fail us; and at three in the afternoon it fell calm, and
left us to the mercy of a great swell, setting directly on the reef, which
was hardly a league from us. We sounded, but found no bottom with a line of
two hundred fathoms. I ordered the pinnace and cutter to be hoisted out to
tow the ship, but they were of little use against so great a swell. We,
however, found that the ship did not draw near the reef so fast as might be
expected; and at seven o'clock a light air at N.N.E. kept her head to the
sea, but it lasted no longer than midnight, when it was succeeded by a dead
calm.
At day-break on the 16th we had no sight of the reef; and at eleven, a
breeze springing up at S.S.W., we hoisted in the boats, and made sail to
S.E. At noon we observed in 19 deg. 35' S., which was considerably more to the
south than we expected, and shewed that a current or tide had been in our
favour all night, and accounted for our getting so unexpectedly clear of
the shoals. At two o'clock p.m. we had again a calm which lasted till nine,
when it was succeeded by a light air from E.N.E. and E., with which we
advanced but slowly.
On the 17th at noon, we observed in latitude 19 deg. 54', when the isle of
Balabea bore S. 68 deg. W., ten and a half leagues distant. We continued to
ply, with variable light winds, between N.E. and S.E., without meeting with
any thing remarkable till the 20th at noon, when Cape Colnett bore
N. 78 deg. W., distant six leagues. From this cape the land extended round by
the south to E.S.E. till it was lost in the horizon, and the country
appeared with many hills and vallies. Latitude observed 20 deg. 41', longitude
made from Observatory Isle 1 deg. 8' E. We stood in shore with a light breeze
at east till sun-set, when we were between two and three leagues off. The
coast extended from S. 42 deg. 1/2 E. to N. 59 deg. W. Two small islets lay without
this last direction, distant from us four or five miles; some others lay
between us and the shore, and to the east, where they seemed to be
connected by reefs, in which appeared some openings from space to space.
The country was mountainous, and had much the same aspect as about Balade.
On one of the western small isles was an elevation like a tower; and over a
low neck of land within the isle were seen many other elevations,
resembling the masts of a fleet of ships.
Next day at sun-rise, after having stood off all night with a light breeze
at S.E., we found ourselves about six leagues from the coast; and in this
situation we were kept by a calm till ten in the evening, when we got a
faint land-breeze at S.W., with which we steered S.E. all night.,
On the 22d at sun-rise the land was clouded, but it was not long before the
clouds went off, and we found, by our land-marks, that we had made a good
advance. At ten o'clock, the land-breeze being succeeded by a sea-breeze at
E. by S., this enabled us to stand in for the land, which at noon extended
from N. 78 deg.
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