CAMPIER’s ACCOUNT OF NEW HOLLAND.

469

not yet fee it. We had very fair weather ; and though we were fo far from the landas to be out of fight of it, yet we. had the fea and land breezes. In the night we hadthe land-breeze at fouth-fouth-eaft a fmall gentle gale, which in the morningabout fun-riling would Ihift about gradually (and withal increaling in ftrength) tillabout noon, we fliould have it at eaft-fouth-eaft, which is the true fea-breeze here ;then it would blow a brilk gale, fo that we could fcarce carry our top-fails doublereefed; and it would continue thus till three in the afternoon, when it would decrealeagain. The weather was fair all the while, not a cloud to be feen, but very hazy,efpecially nigh the horizon. We founded feveral times this 20th day, and at firlthad no ground, but had afterwards from fifty-two to forty-five fathom, coarfebrown fand, mixt with fmall brown and white ft ones, with dints befides in thetallow.

The 21 ft day alfo we had fmall land-breezes in the night, and fea-breezes in theday ; and as we faw fome fea-fnakes every day, fo this day we faw a great many, oftwo different forts or fliapes; one fort was yellow, and about the bignefs of a man’swrift, about four feet long, having a fiat tail about four fingers broad ; the other fortwas much fmaller and Ihorter, round and fpotted black and yellow: this day wefounded feveral times, and had forty-five fathom fand; we did not make theland till noon, and then faw it firft from our topmaft-head; it bore fouth-eaft byeaft about nine leagues diftance, and it appeared like a cape or head of land ; the fea-breeze this day was not fo ftrong as the day before, and it veered out more, fo thatWe had a fair wind to run in with to' the lhore, and at funfet anchored in twentyfathom, clean fand, about five leagues from the Bluff-point, which was not a cape(as it appeared at a great diftance), but the eafternmoft end of an ifland, about five orfix leagues in length, and one in breadth. There were three or four rocky iflandsabout a league from us between us and the bluff point ; and we faw many other iflandsboth to the eaft and weft of it, as far as we could fee either way from our top-maft-

head ; and all within them to the fouth there was nothing but iflands of a pretty

height, that may be feen eight or nine leagues off; by what we faw of them theymuft have been a range of iflands of about twenty leagues in length, ftretching fromeaft-north-eaft to weft-fouth-weft and for ought I know, as far as to thofe ofShark’s-Bay, and to a conliderable breadth alfo, for we could fee nine or ten leaguesin among them) towards the continent or main land of New Holland, if there be anyfilch thing hereabouts; and by the great tides I met with a while afterwards, more tothe north-eaft, I had a ftrong fufpicion that here might be a kind of archipelago oftflands, and a paflage poffibly to the fouth of New Holland and New Guinea into thegreat South Sea eaftward, which I had thoughts alfo of attempting in my return fromNew Guinea , had circumftances permitted, and told my officers fo; but I would notattempt it at this time, becaufe we wanted water, and could not depend upon findingu there. This place is in the latitude of 20° 21', but in the draught that I bad of thiseoaft, which was Tafman’s, it was laid down in 19 0 50', and the lhore is laid downa s all along joining in one body or continent, with fome openings appearing likerivers, and not like iflands, as really they are. This place lies more northerly by

than is laid down in Mr. Tafman’s draught; and befide its being made a firm

c °ntinued land, only with fome openings like the mouths of rivers, I found thefoundings alfo different from what the pricked line of his courfe foews them, andgenerally lhallower than he makes them; which inclines me to think that he camejot fo near the lhore as his line Ihews, and fo had deeper foundings, and could notfo well diftinguilh the iflands his meridian or difference of longitude from Shark’s’*

' Bay,