4 March 1771

Banks's Journal: Daily Entries

Table of Contents On this day ... 4 March 1771 Endeavour Voyage Maps James Cook's Journal Ms 1, National Library of Australia Transcript of Cook's Journal Sydney Parkinson's Journal The authorised published account of Cook's Voyage by John Hawkesworth 1771 Index Search Contact us Search for in Falconer's Dictionary of the Marine

4 March 1771 4. Day broke and shewd us at its earliest dawn how fortunate we had been in the Calms of last night: what was then supposd to be land provd realy so and not above 5 miles from us, so that another hour would have infallibly have carried us upon it. But fortunate as we might think ourselves to be yet unshipwreckd we were still in extreme danger, the wind blew right upon the shore and with it a heavy sea ran which broke mountains high on the rocks with which it was every where lind, so that tho some in the ship thought it possible the major part did not hope to be able to get off. Our anchors and cables were accordingly prepard but the sea ran too high to allow us a hope of the Cables holding should we be drove to the Necessity of making use of them, and should we be drove ashore the Breakers gave us as little hope of saving even our lives: at last however after 4 hours spent in the vicissitudes of hope and fear we found that we got gradualy off and before night were out of Danger. The land from whence we so narrowly escapd is part of the Terra de Natal, laying between the rivers Sangue and Formis about 20 Leagues to the southward of the Bay of Natal. The shore seemd every where steep and rocky but the hills inland rose in gradual slopes spotted here and there with woods, and where it was not lookd Green and pleasant. Voyaging Accounts © Derived from State Library of NSW 1998 Transcription of Banks's Endeavour Journal page (vol.2) 538, 2004 Published by kind permission of the Library https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/banks/17710304.html