[* This head opened round the Cape at E. 14° N.. magnetic, the sloop's head being E. by N.; and shut at W. 20° S., when the head was north. In the first case I allow 3½° east variation, and in the last, 8°; which makes them agree as nearly as can be expected from bearings taken under sail.]
[** Captain Furneaux says (in Cook's second Voyage, Vol. I. page 109), that on March 9, 1773, at noon, the South-west Cape bore north, four leagues; and by referring to the Astronomical Observations, p. 193, I find that his latitude was 43° 45 2/3', which would place the Cape in 43° 33 2/3'; nevertheless the captain says it is in 43° 39', and it is so laid down in his chart. The observation by which captain Cook appears to have fixed the South-west Cape, is that of Jan. 24, 1777, at noon; when he says, "our latitude was 43° 47' south" (Third Voyage, Vol. I. p. 93.) But the Astronomical Observations of that voyage show (p. 101), that the observed latitude on board the Resolution was 43° 42½'; which would make the Cape in 43° 32½' south. I consulted captain King's journal at the Admiralty, but found no observed latitude marked by him on that day.]
The nearest land, at noon, was a steep head bearing N. 66° E., one mile and a half; and between this, and the head which bore S. 74° W., the shore forms a sandy bay four miles deep, where it is probable there may be good anchorage, if two clumps of rock, which lie in the entrance, will admit of a passage in. After taking bearings of Maatsuyker's Isles and the different headlands, we bore away eastward, and passed another deep, sandy bight, probably the same in which Mr. Cox anchored in 1789. At two o'clock, the
South-west Cape, distant 15 or 16 miles, bore W. 2° S.
A steep head at the furthest extreme,
which proved to be the South Cape, S. 72° E.*
[* The magnetic bearing of the South-west Cape was W. 5° S., and that of the South Cape E. 15° S. The true variation I believe to have been 8° E.; but as the sloop's head was at east, no more than 3° are allowed, from a system which will be hereafter explained. It seemed necessary to say this, because the formation of the south end of Van Diemen's Land in my chart, differs from that given by captain Cook, and from those of most others.
In Bayly's Astronomical Observations, page 192, it appears that six sets of variations were observed on board the Resolution, Mar. 24, 1777, off the South Cape; the mean result of which was 4° 43' east. Next morning six other sets were taken near the same place, and the mean variation came out 10°8' east. In captain King's journal, I found the same observations entered, and that the ship's head was E. by N. ½ N. in the first case, and N. W. by W. in the second. This, with the example in the Francis, page cxxvi {The relevant paragraph begins "Whilst passing round the north end. . ." ebook Ed.}, and that in the Norfolk on the preceding page {a few paragraphs above this point. ebook Ed.}, may serve to show, for the present, that corrections are required to the variation, according to the direction of the vessel's head.]
At this time we were one mile within, or north of the largest of the islands; and saw with some surprise, for it is three miles from the main, that its grassy vegetation had been burnt. From hence we steered for the easternmost isle, lying off a wide open bight in the coast, and afterwards hauled up for the South Cape. The wind died away at six o'clock, when the Cape was one mile distant; but thick clouds were gathering in the south and west, and strong gusts with heavy rain presently succeeded. Fortunately, the squalls came from the westward, so that we were enabled to get further from those stupendous cliffs; had they come from the south, the consequences might have been fatal to the Norfolk.
The first steep head, to the eastward of the South Cape, opened round it at E. 7° N., (allowing 4° east variation,) and a second from the first, at E. 16° N., their distances asunder being each about five miles. It is the middlemost of these three heads which is called South Cape by captain Cook, as appears from the relative situations of his Peaked Hill and of Swilly rock; but he had not the opportunity of seeing the heads opening one from the other, as we had in the Norfolk. I make the latitude of the Cape (adding the 2' 40") to be 43° 37', nearly as captain Furneaux did; and as captain Cook would have done, had his latitude at noon been taken 43° 42½', according to the Astronomical Observations, instead Of 42° 47', as in the voyage.
Pedro Blame, or Swilly rock, became visible at half past seven, when the squalls had mostly blown over; and the following bearings where then taken:
South Cape, distant five miles, W. by N.
East extreme of the next steep head, dist. 2½ miles, N. 14° E.
Pedro Blanca, S. 33 E.
Distant land through the haze, N. 60 E.
At nine o'clock we hauled up for D'Entrecasteauxs Channel, of which I had the sketch of Mr. Hayes, and stood off and on, in the entrance, during the night; the wind blowing hard at west, with dark rainy weather.