Page:Early voyages to Terra Australis.djvu/297

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daimpier's voyages. 141

eyes, and with forked tails. Wc strove to run in near the shore to seek for a harbour to refresh us after our tedious voyage ; having made one continued stretch from Brazil hither of about 114 degrees, designing from hence also to begin the discovery I had a mind to make on New Holland and New Guinea. The land was low, and appear'd even, and as we drew nearer to it, it made (as you see in Table iv, No. 3, 4, 5y with some red and some white clifts ; these last in latitude 26 degrees, 10 minutes south, where you will find fifty-four fathom within four miles of the shore.

About the latitude of 26 degrees south we saw an opening and ran in, hoping to find a harbour there ; but when we came to its mouth, which was about two leagues wide, we saw rocks and foul ground within, and therefore stood out again : there we had twenty fathom water within two mile of the shore. The land every where appear'd pretty low, flat and even, but with steep cliff's to the sea ; and when we came near it there were no trees, shrubs, or grass to be seen. The soundings in the latitude of 26 degrees south, from about eight or nine leagues off till you come within a league of the shore, are generally about forty fathom ; dif- fering but little, seldom above three or four fathom. But the lead brings up very diflferent sorts of sand, some coarse, some fine, and of several colours, as yellow, white, grey, brown, blueish and reddish.

When I saw there was no harbour here, nor good anchor- ing, I stood off" to sea again, in the evening of the second of August, fearing a storm on a lee-shore, in a place where there was no shelter, and desirous at least to have sea-room ; for the clouds began to grow thick in the western board, and the wind was already there, and began to blow fresh almost upon the shore, which at this place lies along N.N.W. and S.S.E. By nine a clock at night we had got a pretty

1 It has not been deemed necessary for the present purpose to repro- duce these plates.