The wind continuing at S. W., W. S. W. and W. blowing a fresh gale, and now and then squalls, with showers of rain, we steered to S. S. E., without meeting with any remarkable occurrence till near noon on the 6th, when it fell calm. At this time we were in the latitude of 27° 50ʹ S., longitude 171° 43ʹ E. The calm continued till noon the next day, during which time we observed the variation to be 10° 331⁄2ʹ E. I now ordered the carpenters to work to caulk the decks. As we had neither pitch, tar, nor rosin, left to pay the seams, this was done with varnish of pine, and afterwards covered with coral sand, which made a cement far exceeding my expectation. In the afternoon, we had a boat in the water, and shot two albatrosses, which were geese to us. We had seen one of this kind of birds the day before, which was the first we observed since we had been within the tropic. On the 7th, at one P. M., a breeze sprung up at south; soon after it veered to, and fixed at S. E. by S., and blew a gentle gale, attended with pleasant weather.
We stretched to W. S. W., and next day at noon were in the latitude of 28° 25ʹ, longitude 170° 26ʹ E. In the evening, Mr. Cooper having struck a porpoise with a harpoon, it was necessary to bring to, and have two boats out, before we could kill it, and get it on board. It was six feet long; a female of that kind, which naturalists call dolphin of the antients, and which differs from the other kind of porpoise in the head and jaw, having them long and pointed. This had eighty-eight teeth in each jaw. The haslet and lean flesh were to us a feast. The latter was a little liverish, but had not the least fishy taste. It was eaten roasted, broiled, and fried, first soaking it in warm water. Indeed little art was wanting to make any thing fresh, palatable to those who had been living so long on salt meat.
We continued to stretch to W. S. W. till the 10th, when, at day-break, we discovered land bearing S. W., which on a nearer approach we found to be an island of good height, and five leagues in circuit. I named it Norfolk Isle, in honour of the noble family of Howard. It is situated in the latitude of 29° 2ʹ 30ʺ S., and longitude 168° 16ʹ E. The latter was determined by lunar observations made on this, the preceding, and following days; and the former, by a good observation at noon, when we were about three miles from the isle. Soon after we discovered the isle we sounded in twenty-two fathoms on a bank of coral sand; after this we continued to sound, and found not less than twenty-two, or more than twenty-four fathoms (except near the shore), and the same bottom mixed with broken shells. After dinner, a party of us embarked in two boats, and landed on the island, without any difficulty, behind some large rocks which lined part of the coast on the N. E. side.
We found it uninhabited, and were undoubtedly the first that ever set foot on it. We observed many trees and plants common at New Zealand; and, in particular, the flax plant, which is rather more luxuriant here than in any part of that country; but the chief produce is a sort of spruce pine, which grows in great abundance, and to a large size, many of the trees being as thick, breast high, as two men could fathom, and exceedingly straight and tall. This pine is of a sort between that which grows in New Zealand and that in New Caledonia; the foliage differing something from both; and the wood not so heavy as the former, nor so light and close-grained as the latter. It is a good deal like the Quebec pine. For about two hundred yards from the shore the ground is covered so thick with shrubs and plants, as hardly to be penetrated farther inland. The woods were perfectly clear and free from underwood, and the soil seemed rich and deep.
We found the same kind of pigeons, parrots, and paroquets as in New Zealand, rails, and some small birds. The sea fowl are, white boobies, gulls, tern, &c. which breed undisturbed on the shores, and in the cliffs of the rocks.
On the isle is fresh water; and cabbage-palm, wood-sorrel, sow thistle, and samphire abounding in some places on the shores; we brought on board as much of each sort as the time we had to gather them would admit. These cabbage-trees, or palms, were not thicker than a man’s leg, and from ten to twenty feet high. They are of the same genus with the cocoa-nut tree; like it, they have large pinnated leaves, and are the same as the second sort found in the northern parts of New South Wales.[[13]] The cabbage is, properly speaking, the bud of the tree; each tree producing but one cabbage, which is at the crown, where the leaves spring out, and is inclosed in the stem. The cutting off the cabbage effectually destroys the tree; so that no more than one can be had from the same stem. The cocoa-nut tree, and some others of the palm kind, produce cabbage as well as these. This vegetable is not only wholesome, but exceedingly palatable, and proved the most agreeable repast we had for some time.
The coast does not want fish. While we were on shore, the people in the boats caught some which were excellent. I judged that it was high water at the full and change, about one o’clock, and that the tide rises and falls upon a perpendicular about four or five feet.
The approach of night brought us all on board, when we hoisted in the boats; and stretching to E. N. E. (with the wind at S. E.) till midnight, we tacked, and spent the remainder of the night making short boards.
Next morning, at sun-rise, we made sail, stretching to S. S. W., and weathered the island, on the south side of which lie two isles, that serve as roosting and breeding-places for birds. On this, as also on the S. E. side, is a sandy beach; whereas most of the other shores are bounded by rocky cliffs which have twenty and eighteen fathoms water close to them; at least so we found it on the N. E. side, and with good anchorage. A bank of coral sand, mixed with shells, on which we found from nineteen to thirty-five or forty fathoms water, surrounds the isle, and extends, especially to the south, seven leagues off. The morning we discovered the island the variation was found to be 13° 9ʹ E.; but I think this observation gave too much, as others, which we had both before and after, gave 2° less.
After leaving Norfolk Isle, I steered for New Zealand, my intention being to touch at Queen Charlotte’s Sound, to refresh my crew, and put the ship in a condition to encounter the southern latitudes.