Having got ten or twelve small spars to make studding sail booms, boats’-masts, &c., and night approaching, we returned with them on board.
The purpose for which I anchored under this isle being answered, I was now to consider what was next to be done. We had, from the topmast head, taken a view of the sea around us, and observed the whole, to the west, to be strewed with small islets, sand-banks, and breakers, to the utmost extent of our horizon. They seemed, indeed, not to be all connected, and to be divided by winding channels. But when I considered, that the extent of this S. W. coast was already pretty well determined; the great risk attending a more accurate survey, and the time it would require to accomplish it, on account of the many dangers we should have to encounter, I determined not to hazard the ship down to leeward, where we might be so hemmed in as to find it difficult to return, and by that means lose the proper season for getting to the south. I now wished to have had the little vessel set up, the frame of which we had on board. I had some thoughts of doing this when we were last at Otaheite, but found it could not be executed, without neglecting the caulking and other necessary repairs of the ship, or staying longer there than the route I had in view would admit. It was now too late to begin setting her up, and then to use her in exploring this coast; and in our voyage to the south, she could be of no service. These reasons induced me to try to get without the shoals; that is, to the southward of them.
Next morning, at day-break, we got under sail, with a light breeze at E. by N. We had to make some trips to weather the shoals to leeward of Botany Isle; but when this was done, the breeze began to fail; and at three P. M. it fell calm. The swell, assisted by the current, set us fast to S. W. towards the breakers, which were yet in sight in that direction. Thus we continued till ten o’clock, at which time a breeze springing up at N. N. W. we steered E. S. E., the contrary course we had come in; not daring to steer farther south till day-light.
At three o’clock next morning, the wind veered to S. W., blew hard, and in squalls, attended with rain, which made it necessary to proceed with our courses up, and topsails on the cap, till day-break, when the hill on the Isle of Pines bore N., and our distance from the shore in that direction was about four leagues. We had now a very strong wind at S. S. W., attended by a great sea, so that we had reason to rejoice at having got clear of the shoals before this gale overtook us. Though every thing conspired to make me think this was the westerly monsoon, it can hardly be comprehended under that name, for several reasons; first, because it was near a month too soon for these winds; secondly, because we know not if they reach this place at all; and lastly, because it is very common for westerly winds to blow within the tropics. However, I never found them to blow so hard before, or so far southerly. Be these things as they may, we had now no other choice but to stretch to S. E., which we accordingly did, with our starboard tacks aboard; and at noon were out of sight of land.
The gale continued with very little alteration till noon next day; at which time we observed in latitude 23° 18ʹ, longitude made from the Isle of Pines 1° 54ʹ East. In the afternoon we had little wind from the south, and a great swell from the same direction; and many boobies, tropic, and men-of-war birds were seen. At eleven o’clock a fresh breeze sprung up at W. by S., with which we stood to the south. At this time we were in the latitude of 23° 18ʹ, longitude 169° 49ʹ E., and about forty-two leagues south of the Hebrides.
At eight o’clock in the morning, on the 3d, the wind veered to S. W., and blew a strong gale by squalls, attended with rain. I now gave over all thought of returning to the land we had left. Indeed, when I considered the vast ocean we had to explore to the south; the state and condition of the ship, already in want of some necessary stores; that summer was approaching fast; and that any considerable accident might detain us in this sea another year; I did not think it advisable to attempt to regain the land.
Thus I was obliged, as it were by necessity, for the first time, to leave a coast I had discovered, before it was fully explored. I called it New Caledonia; and, if we except New Zealand, it is perhaps the largest island in the South Pacific Ocean; for it extends from the latitude of 19° 37ʹ to 22° 30ʹ S., and from the longitude of 163° 37ʹ to 167° 14ʹ E. It lies nearly N. W. 1⁄2 W., and S. E. 1⁄2 E., and is about eighty-seven leagues long in that direction; but its breadth is not considerable, not any where exceeding ten leagues. It is a country full of hills and valleys, of various extent both for height and depth. To judge of the whole by the parts we were on, from these hills spring vast numbers of little rivulets, which greatly contribute to fertilize the plains, and to supply all the wants of the inhabitants. The summits of most of the hills seem to be barren; though some few are clothed with wood; as are all the plains and valleys. By reason of these hills, many parts of the coast, when at a distance from it, appeared indented, or to have great inlets between the hills; but, when we came near the shore, we always found such places shut up with low land, and also observed low land to lie along the coast between the sea-shore and the foot of the hills. As this was the case in all such parts as we came near enough to see, it is reasonable to suppose that the whole coast is so. I am likewise of opinion, that the whole, or greatest part, is surrounded by reefs or shoals, which render the access to it very dangerous, but at the same time guard the coast from the violence of the wind and sea; make it abound with fish; secure an easy and safe navigation along it, for canoes, &c. and most likely form some good harbours for shipping. Most, if not every part of the coast is inhabited, the Isle of Pines not excepted; for we saw either smoke by day, or fires by night, wherever we came. In the extent which I have given to this island is included the broken or unconnected lands to the N. W., as they are delineated in the chart. That they may be connected, I shall not pretend to deny; we were however of opinion that they were isles, and that New Caledonia terminated more to S. E., though this, at most, is but a well-founded conjecture.
But whether these lands be separate isles, or connected with New Caledonia, it is by no means certain that we saw their termination to the west. I think we did not, as the shoals did not end with the land we saw, but kept their N. W. direction farther than Bougainville’s track in the latitude of 15° or 151⁄2°. Nay, it seems not improbable, that a chain of isles, sand-banks, and reefs, may extend to the west, as far as the coast of New South Wales. The eastern extent of the isles and shoals off that coast, between the latitude of 15° and 23°, were not known. The semblance of the two countries;[[12]] Bougainville’s meeting with the shoal of Diana above sixty leagues from the coast, and the signs he had of land to the S. E., all tend to increase the probability. I must confess that it is carrying probability and conjecture a little too far, to say what may lie in a space of two hundred leagues; but it is in some measure necessary, were it only to put some future navigator on his guard.
Mr. Wales determined the longitude of that part of New Caledonia we explored, by ninety-six sets of observations, which were reduced to one another by our trusty guide the watch. I found the variation of the compass to be 10° 24ʹ E. This is the mean variation given by the three azimuth compasses we had on board, which would differ from each other a degree and a half, and sometimes more. I did not observe any difference in the variation between the N. W. and S. E. parts of this land, except when we were at anchor before Balade, where it was less than 10°; but this I did not regard, as I found such an uniformity out at sea; and it is there where navigators want to know the variation. While we were on the N. E. coast, I thought the currents set to S. E. and W. or N. W. on the other side; but they are by no means considerable, and may as probably be channels of tides as regular currents. In the narrow channels which divide the shoals, and those which communicate with the sea, the tides run strong; but their rise and fall are inconsiderable, not exceeding three feet and a half. The time of high water, at the full and change, at Balade, is about six o’clock; but at Botany Isle we judged it would happen about ten or eleven o’clock.