• DAMPIER’s ACCOUNT OF NEW HOLLAND.
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pie, others yellow ; all which fmelt very fragrantly: the trees are generally tall andftraight bodied, and may be fit for any ufe. I faw one of a clean body, without knotor limb, fixty or feventy feet high by eftiination: it was three of my fathoms about,and kept its bignefs, without any fenfible decreafe, even to the top. The mould of theifland is black, but not deep, it being very rocky. On the fides and top of the iflandare many palmeto trees, whofe heads we could difcern over all the other trees, buttheir bodies we could not fee.
About one in the afternoon we weighed and flood to the eaflward, between the mainand King William’s Ifland, leaving the ifland on our larboard fide, and founding tillwe were pafl the ifland, and then we had no ground. Here we found the flood fettingeafl-by-north, and the ebb wefl-by-fouth ; there were fhoals and fmall iflands betweenus and the main, which caufed the tide to fet very inconflantly, and make many whirl-ings in the water ; yet we did not find the tide to fet flrong any way, nor the water torife much.
On the 9th, being to the eaflward of King William’s Ifland, we plied all day betweenthe main and other iflands, having eaflerly winds and fair weather till feven the nextmorning ; then we had very hard rain till eight, and faw many fhoals of fifh : we laybecalmed off a pretty deep bay on New Guinea , about twelve or fourteen leagues wide,and feven or eight leagues deep, having low land near its bottom, but high land without.The eaflernmofl part of New Guinea feen, bore eafl-by-fouth, diflant twelve leagues ;Cape Mabo wefl-fouth-wefl half-fouth, diflant feven leagues.
At one in the afternoon it began to rain, and continued till fix in the evening, fothat having but little wind and mofl calms, we lay ftill off the fore-mentioned bay,having King William’s Ifland ftill in fight, though diflant by judgment fifteen or fixteenleagues weft. We faw many fhoals of fmall fifh, fome fharks, and feven or eight dol-phins, but catched none. In the afternoon, being about four leagues from the fhore,we faw an opening in the land, which feemed to afford good harbour. In the even-ing we faw a large fire there, and I intended to go in (if winds and weather wouldpermit) to get fome acquaintance with the natives.
Since the 4th inflant that we paffed Cape Mabo, to the 12th, we had fmall eaflerlywinds and calms, fo that we anchored fevertd times, where I made my men cut wood,that we might have a good flock when a wefterly wind fhould prefent, and fo we pliedto the eaflward, as winds and currents would permit, having not got in all above thirtyleagues to the eaflward of Cape Mabo ; but on the 12th, at four in the afternoon, afmall gale fprung up at north-eafl-by-north, with rain; at five it fhuffled about to north-weft, from thence to the fouth-weft, and continued between thofe two points a prettybrifk gale, fo that we made fail and fleered away north-eaft, till the 13th, in the morn-ing, to get about the Cape of Good Hope ; when it was day we fleered north-eaft half'eaft, then north-eaft-by-eaft, till feven o’clock, and being then feven or eight leaguesoff fhore, we fleered away eaft, the fhore trending eaft-by-fouth : we had very muchrain all night, fo that we could not carry much fail, yet we had a very fteady gale. Ateight this morning the weather cleared up, and the wind decreafed to a fine top-gal!an £gale, and fettled at weft by fouth. We had more rain thefe three days pafl, than allthe voyage, in fo fhort a time. We were now about fix leagues from the land of NeWGuinea , which appeared very high ; and we faw two head-lands about twenty leaguesafunder, the one to the eaft, and the other to the weft, which laft is called the Cape ofGood Hope . We found variation eaft 4 0 .
The 15th in the morning, between twelve and two o’clock, it blew a very brifk g a ^ e
at north-weft, and looked very black in the fouth-weft. At two it flew about at once to
J the