Page:Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia, Volume 1.djvu/203

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

COASTS OF AUglqtAt.IA. 143 27�, and longitude 104 �?, a breeze freshened up, and gradually veered from S?S.E. to East, July?. and E.N.E. Between the 9th and 13th (on 9-?a which day we passed the meridian of Cape Leeu- win) we had variable winds between N.E. and N.W.: on the 9th the wind blew a heavy gale, in which our jolly-boat was washed away, and obliging us to bear up to the S.E. prevented our seeing the land about Cape Chatham, as had been', intended. Between this and King's Island, we had strong gales from the westward, veering, at times, between north and south, with thick and s6metimes rainy weather. During the southerly winds the air was very cold, and lowered the mercury to 47 � 49?; but when the wind veered to the north it rose to 55 �nd gave us considerable relie� On the 98d soundings were struck off King's Island, and the next morning we entered Bass' 8?rait by passing round the south end of the island. Here Oeorge Speed, one of our seamen, breathed his last; his death was occasioned by an excessive indulgence in the vegetables and fruits obtained at Timor, and he bad been sick ever since we lef? that place; first with dysentery, and then with an intestinal inflammation. The weather was so bad when we passed through the south entrance to the Strait, that