On this day ...
20 August 1770
Endeavour Voyage Maps
James Cook's Journal Ms 1, National Library of Australia
Transcript of Cook's Journal
Joseph Banks's Journal
Sydney Parkinson's Journal
Endeavour River to the Northern Extremity of the Country
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At six o’clock in the morning, we got again under sail, with a fresh breeze at E. and stood away N.N.W. for some low islands in that direction, but were soon obliged to haul close upon a wind to weather a shoal which we discovered upon our larboard bow, having at the same time others to the eastward: by the time we had weathered this shoal to leeward, we had brought the islands well upon our lee bow, but seeing some shoals run off from them, and some rocks on our starboard bow, which we did not discover till we were very near them, I was afraid to go to windward of the islands, and therefore brought to, and having made the signal for the pinnace, which was ahead, to come on board, I sent her to leeward of the islands, with orders to keep along the edge of the shoal, which ran off from the south side of the southermost island, sending the yawl at the same time, to run over the shoal in search of turtle. As soon as the pinnace had got to a proper distance, we wore, and stood after her: as we ran to leeward of this island, we took the yawl in tow, she having seen only one small turtle, and therefore made but little stay upon the shoal. The island we found to be a small spot of sand, with some trees upon it, and we could discern many huts, or habitations of the natives, whom we supposed occasionally to visit these islands from the main, they being only five leagues distant, to catch turtle, when they come ashore to lay their eggs. We continued to stand after the pinnace N.N.E. and N. by E. for two other low islands, having two shoals without us, and one between us and the main. At noon, we were about four leagues from the main, which we saw extending to the northward, as far as N.W. by N. all flat and sandy. Our latitude, by observation, was 11° 23’ S. and our longitude 217° 46’ W. our soundings were from fourteen to twenty-three fathom; but these, as well as the shoals and islands, which are too numerous to be particularly mentioned, will be best seen upon the chart. By one o’clock, we had run nearly the length of the southermost of the two islands in sight, and finding that the going to windward of them would carry us too far from the main, we bore up and ran to leeward, where finding a fair open passage, we steered N. by W. in a direction parallel to the main, leaving a small island which lay between it and the ship, and some low sandy isles and shoals without us, of all which we lost sight by four o’clock, and saw no more before the sun went down: at this time the farthest part of the land in sight bore N.N.W. ½ W. and soon after we anchored in thirteen fathom, upon soft ground, at the distance of about five leagues from the land, where we lay till day-light.
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Voyaging Accounts |  |
© Derived from Vols. II-III of the London 1773 edition: National Library of Australia call no. FERG 7243, pages 611 - 612, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/hv23/611.html