Batavia to the Cape and thence to England
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WE continued our course, without any event worthy of notice, except that one of my best men unhappily fell overboard and was drowned, till Monday the 10th of February, when, at six o’clock in the morning, we saw the coast of Africa, bearing from N.N.W. to N.E. distant about seven leagues: it made in several high hills, and white sandy cliffs, and its latitude was 34° 15’S., longitude 21° 45’E.; the variation here was 22° W. and our depth of water fifty-three fathom, with a bottom of coarse brown sand.
I stood in for the land, and when I was within about two leagues of it, I saw a great smoke rising from a sandy beach. I imagined the smoke to be made by the Hottentots; yet I was astonished at their chusing this part of the coast for their residence, for it consisted of nothing but sand banks as far as we could see, without the least bush or a single blade of verdure, and so heavy a sea broke upon the coast, that it was impossible to catch any fish.
On Wednesday the 12th, at three o’clock in the afternoon, we were abreast of Cape Lagullas, from which the coast lies W.N.W. to the Cape of Good Hope, which is distant about thirty leagues. The next day, we passed between Penguin
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Voyaging Accounts |  |
© Derived from Volume I of the London 1773 Edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, page 135, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv01/171.html