Page:A voyage to New Holland - Dampier.djvu/164

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ed several times, but had no ground till 8 o'clock August the 4th in the evening; and then had 60 fathom water, coral ground. At 10 we had 56 fathom fine sand. At 12 we had 55 fathom, fine sand, of a pale bluish colour. It was now pretty moderate weather; yet I made no sail till morning; but then, the wind veering about to the south-west, I made sail and stood to the north: and at 11 o'clock the next day August 5 we saw land again, at about 10 leagues distance. This noon we were in latitude 25 degrees 30 minutes, and in the afternoon our cook died, an old man, who had been sick a great while, being infirm before we came out of England.

The 6th of August in the morning we saw an opening in the land and we ran into it, and anchored in 7 and a half fathom water, 2 miles from the shore, clean sand. It was somewhat difficult getting in here, by reason of many shoals we met with: but I sent my boat sounding before me. The mouth of this sound, which I called Shark's Bay, lies in about 25 degrees south latitude, and our reckoning made its longitude from the Cape of Good Hope to be about 87 degrees; which is less by 195 leagues than is usually laid down in our common charts, if our reckoning was right and our glasses did not deceive