The main land within the islands that have been just mentioned forms a point, which I called Cape Grenville: it lies in latitude 11° 58ʹ, longitude 217° 38ʹ; and between it and Bolt Head is a bay, which I called Temple Bay. At the distance of nine leagues from Cape Grenville, in the direction of E. ½ N. lie some high islands, which I called Sir Charles Hardy’s Isles; and those which lie off the Cape I called Cockburn’s Isles. Having lain by for the boats, which had got out of their station, till about one o’clock, we then took the yawl in tow; and the pinnace having got a-head, we filled, and stood N. by W. for some small islands which lay in that direction; such at least they were in appearance, but upon approaching them we perceived that they were joined together by a large reef: upon this we edged away N. W. and left them on our starboard hand; we steered between them and the islands that lay off the main, having a clear passage, and from fifteen to twenty-three fathom water. At four o’clock we discovered some low islands and rocks, bearing W. N. W., and stood directly for them: at half an hour after six we anchored on the north-east side of the northernmost of them, at one mile distance, and in sixteen fathom. These islands lie N. W. four leagues from Cape Grenville, and from the number of birds that I saw upon them, I called them Bird Isles. A little before sun-set, we were in sight of the main land, which appeared all very low and sandy, extending as far to the northward as N. W. by N., some shoals, quays, and low sandy isles stretching away to the N. E.
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 a-head, 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 southernmost 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° 23ʹ S., and our longitude 217° 46ʹ 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 southernmost 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 daylight.
Early in the morning we made sail again, and steered N. N. W. by compass, for the northernmost land in sight; and at this time, we observed the variation of the needle to be 3° 6ʹ E. At eight o’clock we discovered shoals a-head, and on our larboard bow, and saw that the northernmost land, which we had taken for the main, was detached from it, and that we might pass between them, by running to leeward of the shoals on our larboard bow, which were now near us: we therefore wore and brought to, sending away the pinnace and yawl to direct us, and then steered N. W. along the S. W. or inside of the shoals, keeping a good look-out from the mast-head, and having another shoal on our larboard side: we found, however, a good channel of a mile broad between them, in which we had from ten to fourteen fathom. At eleven o’clock, we were nearly the length of the land detached from the main, and there appeared to be no obstruction in the passage between them; yet, having the long-boat astern and rigged, we sent her away to keep in shore upon our larboard bow, and at the same time dispatched the pinnace a starboard; precautions which I thought necessary, as we had a strong flood that carried us an end very fast, and it was near high water: as soon as the boats were a-head, we stood after them, and by noon, got through the passage. Our latitude, by observation, was then 10° 36ʹ and the nearest part of the main, which we soon after found to be the northermost, bore W. 2 S., distant between three or four miles: we found the land, which was detached from the main, to be a single island, extending from N. to N. 75 E., distant between two and three miles; at the same time we saw other islands at a considerable distance, extending from N. by W. to W. N. W., and behind them another chain of high land, which we judged also to be islands; there were still other islands, extending as far as N. 71 W., which at this time we took for the main.
The point of the main which forms the side of the channel through which we passed, opposite to the island, is the northern promontory of the country, and I called it York Cape. Its longitude is 218° 24ʹ W., the latitude of the north point is 10° 37ʹ, and of the east point 10° 42ʹ S. The land over the east point, and to the southward of it, is rather low, and as far as the eye can reach, very flat, and of a barren appearance. To the southward of the Cape the shore forms a large open bay, which I called Newcastle Bay, and in which are some small low islands and shoals; the land adjacent is also very low, flat, and sandy. The land of the northern part of the Cape is more hilly, the valleys seem to be well clothed with wood, and the shore forms some small bays, in which there appeared to be good anchorage. Close to the eastern point of the Cape are three small islands, from one of which a small ledge of rocks runs out into the sea: there is also an island close to the northern point. The island that forms the strait or channel through which we had passed, lies about four miles without these, which, except two, are very small: the southermost is the largest, and much higher than any part of the main land. On the north-west side of this island there appeared to be good anchorage, and on shore, valleys that promised both wood and water. These islands are distinguished in the chart by the name of York Isles. To the southward and south-east, and even to the eastward and northward of them, there are several other low islands, rocks, and shoals: our depth of water, in sailing between them and the main, was twelve, thirteen, and fourteen fathom.
We stood along the shore to the westward, with a gentle breeze at S. E. by S., and when we had advanced between three and four miles, we discovered the land a-head, which, when we first saw it, we took for the main, to be islands detached from it by several channels. Upon this we sent away the boats, with proper instructions, to lead us through that channel which was next the main; but soon after discovering rocks and shoals in this channel, I made a signal for the boats to go through the next channel to the northward, which lay between these islands, leaving some of them between us and the main: the ship followed, and had never less than five fathom water in the narrowest part of the channel, where the distance from island to island was about one mile and a half.
At four o’clock in the afternoon, we anchored, being about a mile and a half, or two miles, within the entrance, in six fathom and a half, with clear ground: the channel here had begun to widen, and the islands on each side of us were distant about a mile: the main land stretched away to the S. W., the farthest point in view bore S. 48 W., and the southermost point of the islands, on the north-west side of the passage, bore S. 76 W. Between these two points we could see no land, so that we conceived hopes of having, at last, found a passage into the Indian sea; however, that I might be able to determine with more certainty, I resolved to land upon the island which lies at the south-east point of the passage. Upon this island we had seen many of the inhabitants when we first came to an anchor; and when I went into the boat with a party of men, accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, in order to go ashore, we saw ten of them upon a hill: nine of them were armed with such lances as we had been used to see, and the tenth had a bow, and a bundle of arrows, which we had never seen in the possession of the natives of this country before: we also observed, that two of them had large ornaments of mother-of-pearl hanging round their necks. Three of these, one of whom was the bowman, placed themselves upon the beach abreast of us, and we expected that they would have opposed our landing, but when we came within about a musket’s shot of the beach, they walked leisurely away. We immediately climbed the highest hill, which was not more than three times as high as the mast-head, and the most barren of any we had seen. From this hill, no land could be seen between the S. W. and W. S. W., so that I had no doubt of finding a channel through. The land to the north-west of it consisted of a great number of islands of various extent, and different heights, ranged one behind another, as far to the northward and westward as I could see, which could not be less than thirteen leagues. As I was now about to quit the eastern coast of New Holland, which I had coasted from latitude 38 to this place, and which I am confident no European had ever seen before, I once more hoisted English colours, and though I had already taken possession of several particular parts, I now took possession of the whole eastern coast, from latitude 38° to this place, latitude 10-½ S., in right of his Majesty King George the Third, by the name of New South Wales, with all the bays, harbours, rivers, and islands situated upon it: we then fired three vollies of small arms, which were answered by the same number from the ship. Having performed this ceremony upon the island, which we called Possession Island, we reimbarked in our boat, but a rapid ebb tide setting N. E. made our return to the vessel very difficult and tedious. From the time of our last coming among the shoals, we constantly found a moderate tide, the flood setting to the N. W. and the ebb to the S. E. At this place, it is high water at the full and change of the moon, about one or two o’clock, and the water rises and falls perpendicularly about twelve feet. We saw smoke rising in many places from the adjacent lands and islands, as we had done upon every part of the coast, after our last return to it through the reef.
We continued at anchor all night, and between seven and eight o’clock in the morning, we saw three or four of the natives upon the beach gathering shell-fish; we discovered, by the help of our glasses, that they were women, and, like all the other inhabitants of this country, stark naked. At low water, which happened about ten o’clock, we got under sail, and stood to the S. W. with a light breeze at E., which afterwards veered to N. by E.: our depth of water was from six to ten fathom, except in one place, where we had but five. At noon, Possession Island bore N. 53 E., distant four leagues, the western extremity of the main land in sight bore S. 43 W., distant between four and five leagues, and appeared to be extremely low, the south-west point of the largest island on the north-west side of the passage bore N. 71 W., distant eight miles, and this point I called Cape Cornwall. It lies in latitude 10° 43ʹ S., longitude 219° W.; and some low lands that lie about the middle of the passage, which I called Wallis’s Isles, bore W. by S. ½ S., distant about two leagues: our latitude, by observation, was 10° 46ʹ S. We continued to advance with the tide of flood W. N. W., having little wind, and from eight to five fathom water. At half an hour after one, the pinnace, which was ahead, made the signal for shoal water, upon which we tacked, and sent away the yawl to sound also: we then tacked again, and stood after them: in about two hours, they both made the signal for shoal water, and the tide being nearly at its greatest height, I was afraid to stand on, as running aground at that time might be fatal; I therefore came to an anchor in somewhat less than seven fathom, sandy ground. Wallis’s Islands bore S. by W. ½ W., distant five or six miles, the islands to the northward extended from S. 73 E. to N. 10 E., and a small island, which was just in sight, bore N. W. ½ W. Here we found the flood tide set to the westward, and the ebb to the eastward.
After we had come to an anchor, I sent away the master in the long-boat to sound, who, upon his return in the evening, reported, that there was a bank stretching north and south, upon which there were but three fathom, and that beyond it there were seven. About this time it fell calm, and continued so till nine the next morning, when we weighed, with a light breeze at S. S. E., and steered N. W. by W. for the small island which was just in sight, having first sent the boats ahead to sound: the depth of water was eight, seven, six, five, and four fathom, and three fathom upon the bank, it being now the last quarter ebb. At this time, the northermost island in sight bore N. 9 E., Cape Cornwall E., distant three leagues, and Wallis’s Isles S. 3 E., distant three leagues. This bank, at least so much as we have sounded, extends nearly N. and S., but to what distance I do not know: its breadth is not more than half a mile at the utmost. When we had got over the bank, we deepened our water to six fathom three quarters, and had the same depth all the way to the small island ahead, which we reached by noon, when it bore S., distant about half a mile. Our depth of water was now five fathom, and the northermost land in sight, which is part of the same chain of islands that we had seen to the northward from the time of our first entering the strait, bore N. 71 E. Our latitude, by observation, was 10° 33ʹ S., and our longitude 219° 22ʹ W.: in this situation, no part of the main was in sight. As we were now near the island, and had but little wind, Mr. Banks and I landed upon it, and found it, except a few patches of wood, to be a barren rock, the haunt of birds, which had frequented it in such numbers, as to make the surface almost uniformly white with their dung: of these birds, the greater part seemed to be boobies, and I therefore called the place Booby Island. After a short stay, we returned to the ship, and in the mean time the wind had got to the S. W.; it was but a gentle breeze, yet it was accompanied by a swell from the same quarter, which, with other circumstances, confirmed my opinion that we were got to the westward of Carpentaria, or the northern extremity of New Holland, and had now an open sea to the westward, which gave me great satisfaction, not only because the dangers and fatigues of the voyage were drawing to an end, but because it would no longer be a doubt whether New Holland, and New Guinea were two separate islands, or different parts of the same.
The north-east entrance of this passage or strait, lies in the latitude of 10° 39ʹ S., and in the longitude of 218° 36ʹ W. It is formed by the main, or the northern extremity of New Holland, on the S. E., and by a congeries of islands, which I called the Prince of Wales’s Islands, to the N. W., and it is probable that these islands extend quite to New Guinea. They differ very much both in height and circuit, and many of them seemed to be well clothed with herbage and wood: upon most, if not all of them, we saw smoke, and therefore there can be no doubt of their being inhabited: it is also probable, that among them there are at least as good passages as that we came through, perhaps better, though better would not need to be desired, if the access to it, from the eastward, were less dangerous: that a less dangerous access may be discovered, I think there is little reason to doubt, and to find it, little more seems to be necessary than to determine how far the principal, or outer reef, which bounds the shoals to the eastward, extends towards the north, which I would not have left to future navigators if I had been less harassed by danger and fatigue, and had had a ship in better condition for the purpose.
To this channel, or passage, I have given the name of the ship, and called it Endeavour Straits. Its length from N. E. to S. W. is ten leagues, and it is about five leagues broad, except at the north-east entrance, where it is somewhat less than two miles, being contracted by the islands which lie there. That which I called Possession Island is of a moderate height and circuit, and this we left between us and the main, passing between it and two small round islands which lie about two miles to the N. W. of it. The two small islands, which I called Wallis’s Islands, lie in the middle of the south-west entrance, and these we left to the southward. Our depth of water in the strait was from four to nine fathom, with every where good anchorage, except upon the bank, which lies two leagues to the northward of Wallis’s Islands, where, at low water, there are but three fathom: for a more particular knowledge of this strait, and of the situations of the several islands and shoals on the eastern coast of New Wales, I refer to the chart, where they are delineated with all the accuracy that circumstances would admit; yet, with respect to the shoals, I cannot pretend that one half of them are laid down, nor can it be supposed possible that one half of them should be discovered in the course of a single navigation: many islands also must have escaped my pencil, especially between latitude 20° and 22°, where we saw islands out at sea as far as an island could be distinguished; it must not therefore be supposed, by future navigators, that where no shoal or island is laid down in my chart, no shoal or island will be found in these seas: it is enough that the situation of those that appear in the chart is faithfully ascertained, and, in general, I have the greatest reason to hope that it will be found as free from error as any that has not been corrected by subsequent and successive observations. The latitudes and longitudes of all, or most of the principal head-lands and bays, may be confided in, for we seldom failed of getting an observation once at least every day, by which to correct the latitude of our reckoning, and observations for settling the longitude were equally numerous, no opportunity that was offered by the sun and moon being suffered to escape. It would be injurious to the memory of Mr. Green, not to take this opportunity of attesting that he was indefatigable both in making observations and calculating upon them; and that, by his instructions and assistance, many of the petty officers were enabled both to observe and calculate with great exactness. This method of finding the longitude at sea, may be put into universal practice, and may always be depended upon within half a degree, which is sufficient for all nautical purposes. If, therefore, observing and calculating were considered as necessary qualifications for every sea officer, the labours of the speculative theorist to solve this problem might be remitted, without much injury to mankind: neither will it be so difficult to acquire this qualification, or put it in practice, as may at first appear; for, with the assistance of the nautical almanack, and astronomical ephemeris, the calculations for finding the longitude will take up little more time than the calculation of an azimuth for finding the variation of the compass.