The Streight of Magellan
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on a reef of rocks; the wind however suddenly shifted, and we happily got off without damage. At five o’clock in the afternoon, the tide being done, and the wind coming about to the west, we bore away for York road, and at length anchored in it: the Swallow at the same time being very near Island bay, under Cape Quod, endeavoured to get in there, but was by the tide obliged to return to York road. In this situation Cape Quod bore W. ½ S. distant 19 miles, York Point E.S.E. distant one mile, Bachelor’s River N.N.W. three quarters of a mile, the entrance of Jerom’s Sound N.W. by W. and a small island on the south shore W. by S. We found the tide here very rapid and uncertain; in the stream it generally set to the eastward, but it sometimes, though rarely, set westward six hours together. This evening we saw five Indian canoes come out of Bachelor’s River, and go up Jerom’s Sound.
In the morning, the boats which I had sent out to sound both the shores of the Streight and all parts of the bay, returned with an account that there was good anchorage within Jerom’s Sound, and all the way thither from the ship’s station at the distance of about half a mile from the shore; also between Elizabeth and York Point, near York Point, at the distance of a cable and a half’s length from the weeds, in 16 fathom with a muddy bottom. There were also several places under the islands on the south shore where a ship might anchor; but the force and uncertainty of the tides, and the heavy gusts of wind that came off the high lands, by which these situations were surrounded, rendered them unsafe. Soon after the boats returned, I put fresh hands into them and went myself up Bachelor’s River: we found a bar at the entrance, which at certain times of the tide must be dangerous. We hauled the seine, and should have caught plenty of fish if it had not been for the weeds and
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Voyaging Accounts |  |
© Derived from Volume I of the London 1773 Edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, page 393, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv01/393.html