Chap. II.]
ANCHOR IN THE KAWA KAWA.
59
1841
August. until late in the evening that we arrived at, and hove to off, the entrance of the Bay of Islands, the night being too dark for us to attempt the harbour. A lighthouse on Cape Brett, Cape Pocock, or one of the outer islands of the bay, is a desideratum of the first importance to the trade of this place. Had the wind increased to a heavy gale, our ships would have been in a very dangerous position; as it was, we were not without much anxiety during the night; the rapidly descending barometer and general aspect of the weather gave but too evident symptoms of the approaching gale, and when day broke, the haze was so dense that we could not see the land; fortunately for us, a partial clearing of only a few minutes duration gave us a glimpse of the fine bold promontory called Cape Brett, with its pierced rock off it, by which it can be distinguished from all other headlands. We immediately bore away before the breeze, which had by this time increased to a gale, steering for Kororarika Point, which we got sight of through the fog and the rain, which was pouring down in torrents. Furling all our square sails, we ran before the wind, passing the anchorage of Kororarika, and, guided by the admirable chart of Captain Fitzroy, entered the narrows of the river Kawa Kawa, the ships stirring the mud up as they passed over the bar, on which there was rather less water than they drew, and anchored about a mile and a half from its entrance, at 10 30 a.m., in five fathoms—moored with the best
August. until late in the evening that we arrived at, and hove to off, the entrance of the Bay of Islands, the night being too dark for us to attempt the harbour. A lighthouse on Cape Brett, Cape Pocock, or one of the outer islands of the bay, is a desideratum of the first importance to the trade of this place. Had the wind increased to a heavy gale, our ships would have been in a very dangerous position; as it was, we were not without much anxiety during the night; the rapidly descending barometer and general aspect of the weather gave but too evident symptoms of the approaching gale, and when day broke, the haze was so dense that we could not see the land; fortunately for us, a partial clearing of only a few minutes duration gave us a glimpse of the fine bold promontory called Cape Brett, with its pierced rock off it, by which it can be distinguished from all other headlands. We immediately bore away before the breeze, which had by this time increased to a gale, steering for Kororarika Point, which we got sight of through the fog and the rain, which was pouring down in torrents. Furling all our square sails, we ran before the wind, passing the anchorage of Kororarika, and, guided by the admirable chart of Captain Fitzroy, entered the narrows of the river Kawa Kawa, the ships stirring the mud up as they passed over the bar, on which there was rather less water than they drew, and anchored about a mile and a half from its entrance, at 10 30 a.m., in five fathoms—moored with the best
