On Friday the 19th, we discovered a ship at a considerable distance to leeward in the south-west quarter, which hoisted French colours; she continued in sight all day, and the next morning we perceived that she had greatly outsailed us during the night; she made a tack, however, in order to get farther to windward, and as it is not usual for ships to turn to windward in these parts, it was evident that she had tacked in order to speak with us. By noon she was near enough to hail us, and, to my great surprise, made use both of my name and that of the ship, enquiring after my health, and telling me, that after the return of the Dolphin to Europe, it was believed we had suffered shipwreck in the Streight of Magellan, and that two ships had been sent out in quest of us. I asked, in my turn, who it was that was so well acquainted with me and my ship, and with the opinions that had been formed of us in Europe after the return of our companion, and how this knowledge had been acquired. I was answered, that the ship which hailed us was in the service of the French East India Company, commanded by M. Bougainville; that she was returning to England from the Isle of France; that what was thought of the Swallow in England, had been learnt from the French Gazette at the Cape of Good Hope; and that we were known to be that vessel by the letter which had been found in the bottle at the Island of Ascension, a few days after we had left that place. An offer was then made of supplying me with refreshments, if I wanted any, and I was asked if I had any letters to send to France. I returned thanks for the offer of refreshments, which however was a mere verbal civility, as it was known that I had lately sailed from the places where M. Bougainville himself had been supplied; but I said that I had received letters for France from some gentlemen of that country at the Cape, and if he would send his boat on board, they should be delivered to his messenger. Thus was an occasion furnished for what I have reason to believe was the principal object of M. Bougainville in speaking with us: A boat was immediately sent on board, and in her a young officer, dressed in a waistcoat and trowsers; whether he was thus dressed by design I shall not determine, but I soon perceived that his rank was much superior to his appearance. He came down to me in my cabin, and after the usual compliments had passed, I asked him how he came to go home so soon in the season; to which he replied, that there had been some disagreement between the governor and inhabitants of the Isle of France, and that he had been sent home in haste with dispatches: This story was the more plausible, as I had heard of the dispute between the governor and inhabitants of the Isle of France, from a French gentleman who came from thence, at the Cape of Good Hope; yet I was not perfectly satisfied: For, supposing M. Bougainville to have been sent in haste to Europe with dispatches, I could not account for his losing the time which it cost him to speak with me; I therefore observed to this gentleman, that although he had accounted for his coming before the usual time from the Isle of France, he had not accounted for his coming at an unusual time from India, which must have been the case. To this, however, he readily replied, that they had made only a short trading voyage on the western coast of Sumatra. I then enquired, what commodities he had brought from thence; and he answered, cocoa-nut oil, and rattans: But, said I, these are commodities which it is not usual to bring into Europe: It is true, said he, but these commodities we left at the Isle of France, the oil for the use of the island, and the rattans for ships which were to touch there in their way to China, and in exchange we took in another freight for Europe; this freight I think he said was pepper, and his whole tale being at least possible, I asked him no more questions. He then told me, he had heard at the Cape, that I had been with Commodore Byron at Falkland's Islands; and, said he, I was on board the French ship that met you in the Streight of Magellan, which must have been true, for he mentioned several incidents that it was otherwise highly improbable he should know, particularly the store-ship's running a-ground, and many of the difficulties that occurred in that part of the Streight which we passed together: By this conversation he contrived to introduce several enquiries, concerning the western part of the Streight, the time it cost me to get through, and the difficulties of the navigation; but perceiving that I declined giving any account of these particulars, he changed his subject. He said, he had heard that we lost an officer and some men in an engagement with the Indians; and taking notice that my ship was small, and a bad sailer, he insinuated that we must have suffered great hardship in so long a voyage; but, said he, it is thought to be safer and pleasanter sailing in the South Sea than any where else. As I perceived that he waited for a reply, I said, that the great ocean, called the South Sea, extended almost from one pole to the other; and therefore, although that part of it which lay between the tropics might justly be called the Pacific, on account of the trade-winds that blow there all the year, yet without the tropics, on either side, the winds were variable, and the seas turbulent. In all this he readily acquiesced, and finding that he could not draw from me any thing to satisfy his curiosity, by starting leading subjects of conversation, he began to propose his questions in direct terms, and desired to know on which side the equator I had crossed the South Seas. As I did not think proper to answer this question, and wished to prevent others of the same kind, I rose up somewhat abruptly, and I believe with some marks of displeasure: At this he seemed to be a little disconcerted, and I believe was about to make an apology for his curiosity, but I prevented him, by desiring that he would make my compliments to his captain, and in return for his obliging civilities presented him with one of the arrows that had wounded my men, which I immediately went into my bed-room to fetch: He followed me, looking about him with great curiosity, as indeed he had done from the time of his first coming on board, and having received the arrow, he took his leave.

After he was gone, and we had made sail, I went upon the deck, where my lieutenant asked me, if my visitor had entertained me with an account of his voyage. This led me to tell him the general purport of our conversation, upon which he assured me that the tale I had heard was a fiction, for, says he, the boat's crew could not keep their secret so well as their officer, but after a little conversation told one of our people who was born at Quebec, and spoke French, that they had been round the globe as well as we. This naturally excited a general curiosity, and with a very little difficulty we learnt that they had sailed from Europe in company with another ship, which, wanting some repair, had been left at the Isle of France; that they had attempted to pass the Streight of Magellan the first summer, but not being able, had gone back, and wintered in the river de la Plata; that the summer afterwards they had been more successful, and having passed the Streight, spent two months at the island of Juan Fernandes. My lieutenant told me also, that a boy in the French boat said he had been upon that island two years, and that while he was there, an English frigate put into the road, but did not anchor, mentioning the time as well as he could recollect, by which it appeared that the frigate he had seen was the Swallow. On the boy's being asked how he came to be so long upon the island of Juan Fernandes, he said that he had been taken upon the Spanish coast in the West Indies in a smuggling party, and sent thither by the Spaniards; but that by the French ship, in whose boat he came on board us, having touched there, he had regained his liberty. After having received this information from my lieutenant, I could easily account for M. Bougainville's having made a tack to speak to me, and for the conversation and behaviour of my visitor; but I was now more displeased at the questions he had asked me than before, for if it was improper for him to communicate an account of his voyage to me, it was equally improper for me to communicate an account of my voyage to him: And I thought an attempt to draw me into a breach of my obligation to secrecy, while he imposed upon me by a fiction that he might not violate his own, was neither liberal nor just. As what the boat's crew told my people, differs in several particulars from the account printed by M. Bougainville, I shall not pretend to determine how much of it is true; but I was then very sorry that the lieutenant had not communicated to me the intelligence he received, such as it was, before my guest left me, and I was now very desirous to speak with him again, but this was impossible; for though the French ship was foul from a long voyage, and we had just been cleaned, she shot by us as if we had been at anchor, notwithstanding we had a fine fresh gale, and all our sails set.[61]

[Footnote 61: Bougainville passes over the circumstance of meeting with the Swallow in a very cursory manner: "The 28th we perceived a ship to windward, and a-head of us; we kept sight of her during the night, and joined her the next morning; it was the Swallow. I offered Capt. C. all the services that one may render to another at sea. He wanted nothing; but upon his telling me that they had given him letters for France at the Cape, I sent on board for them. He presented me with an arrow which he had got in one of the isles he had found in his voyage round the world, a voyage that he was far from suspecting we had likewise made. His ship was very small, went very ill, and when we took leave of him, he remained as it were at anchor. How much he must have suffered in so bad a vessel, may well be conceived. There were eight leagues difference between his estimated longitude and ours; he reckoned himself so much more to the westward." A little before, he had spoken of his wishing to join Carteret, over whom he knew he had great advantage in sailing. This was in leaving the Cape of Good Hope, at which time Carteret was eleven days gone before him.--E.]

On the 7th of March we made the Western Islands, and went between St Michael and Tercera; in this situation we found the variation 13°36'W., and the winds began to blow from the S.W. The gale, as we got farther to the westward, increased, and on the 11th, having got to W.N.W. it blew very hard, with a great sea; we scudded before it with the foresail only, the foot-rope of which suddenly breaking, the sail blew all to pieces, before we could get the yard down, though it was done instantly. This obliged us to bring the ship to, but having, with all possible expedition, bent a new foresail, and got the yard up, we bore away again; this was the last accident that happened to us during the voyage. On the 16th, being in latitude 49° 15' N. we got soundings. On the 18th, I knew by the depth of water that we were in the Channel, but the wind being to the northward, we could not make land till the next day, when we saw the Star Point; and on the 20th, to our great joy, we anchored at Spithead, after a very fine passage, and a fair wind all the way from the Cape of Good Hope.

A Table of the Variation of the Compass, as observed on board the Swallow, in her Voyage round the Globe, in the Years 1766, 1767, 1768, and 1769.

N.B. The days of the month in this Table are not by the nautical account, as is the custom, but, for the convenience of those that are not used to that way of reckoning, are reduced to the civil account. A.M. denotes that the observation was made in the forenoon, and P.M. in the afternoon of that day on the noon of which the latitude and longitude of the ship were taken.

TIME. Lat. in Long. in Variation. REMARKS.
at Noon at Noon
from
-----------------------------------------------------------------
North. West. West.
1766,August. English Channel 22°30' }
30, P.M. 45°22 18°17' 20 25 }From the Downs to
Sept. 3,P.M. 38 36 13 40 19 04 } of Madeira.
4,A.M. 37 27 14 12 20 17 }
Island Madeira. 32 34 16 35 16 00
17,A.M. 24 33 19 22 13 00
21,A.M. 17 19 22 19 11 14 }The island of Sall
}in sight, S.
}by W. ten leagues
22,P.M, 16 34 22 29 8 20 }Was then between the
}island of Sall
}and the island of May.
Porto Praya 15 00 23 00 8 00 }Island of St. Jago.
Oct. 10,P.M. 6 34 21 41 5 36 }
11,P.M. 6 40 21 35 6 00 }
South. }
22,A.M. 0 06 25 03 6 23 }On the passage from
}the island
25,A.M. 4 14 27 23 4 30 }of St Jago to the
27,A.M 7 03 28 49 3 52 }Streights
28,A.M. 8 46 29 14 1 50 }of Magellan.
30,P.M. 10 57 30 09 0 30 }
31,A.M. 12 30 30 30 Novar }
East.
Oct.31,P.M. 12 56 30 46 1 24 }
Nov. 2,P.M. 17 22 32 09 1 40 }
7,A.M. 23 54 38 10 4 56 }
P.M. - - - - 5 56 }
8,P.M. 25 49 39 21 6 45 } Coast of Patagonia.
11,A.M. 29 57 42 27 8 50 }
15,A.M. 34 12 46 41 12 00 }
16,A.M. 34 38 47 58 12 36 }
17,A.M. 34 46 48 28 13 03 }
P.M. - - - - 14 20 }
Nov.18, AM 35° 37' 49° 49' 30' }Soundings 54 fathoms of
}water,with a bottom of fine
}black sand, rather muddy.
PM. 15 45 }Ditto depth and bottom.
20, PM. 36 57 51 48 15 33 }Ditto depth, find sand, but
}not so black, with small
}shells.
21, AM. 37 40 51 05 15 52 }Had no bottom with 80 fathoms
}of line.
38 53 53 12 }Had soundings a 70 fathoms
}water.
40 34 53 47 }No bottom with 90 fathoms of
}line.
41 34 55 39 }45 fathoms, dark brown sandy
}bottom.
41 57 56 06 }42 fathoms, fine grey sand.
41 06 57 18 }46 fathoms, fine dark brown
}sand.
28, AM. 41 14 56 48 19 00 }39 fathoms ditto bottom. Here
}we caught very good fish
}with hooks and lines.
29, AM. 42 08 58 41 19 02 }32 fathoms of water, with
}ditto bottom.
PM. 19 45 }33 fathoms depth.
43 18 58 56 }Depth 45 fathoms, the same
}bottom; we had here a calm,
}and we caught good fish.
44 04 58 53 }52 fathoms water, the same
}bottom.
45 00 59 34 }58 fathoms, fine light brown
}sand.
Dec, 4, PM. 47 00 60 51 20 20
47 15 61 10 }60 fathoms, fine dark sand.
5, AM. 48 01 61 28 }56 fathoms, with ditto
}bottom,and grains of
}sparkling sand mixed with it.
6, AM. 47 35 62 50 20 34
47 30 63 08 }45 fathoms of water, dark
}sand,with small stones, and
47 30 63 08 }in going west about 10 miles
}we had 52 fathoms, a bottom
}of soft mud
7, AM. 47 14 63 37 }54 fathoms, soft mud, with
}small stones; at this time
}the land was seen from the
}mastheads, somewhere about
}Cape Blanco.
8, PM. 48 54 64 14 20 30
9, AM. 49 12 65 31 20 35
1766.
Dec. 9, A.M. 50° 15' 66°02' }53 fathoms. dark grey sand,
}with small stones.
17, Cape Virgin Mary, eastermost entrance of the Streight
Magellan - 52 23 68 02 22 50
Elizabeth Island 22 36
Port Famine 22 22
Off C. Forward 22 10
York Road Ditto }In the Streights
Swallow Har. }of Magellan.
Off C. Notch. 22 00
1767, Off C. Upr.
Off C. Pillar 52 45 75 10 21 50 }Westernmost entrance of
}the Streights.
April 18, P.M. 49 18 79 06 17 36
20, A.M. 48 04 80 56 17 20 }Coast of Chili, in the
}South Sea.
26, P.M. 45 57 81 22 16 17
28, P.M. 44 27 81 24 15 10
33 40 78 52 11 00 }end of the island
May }Juan Fernandes.
33 45 80 46 10 24 }Island of Massafuero.
28, P.M. 29 45 79 50 9 40 }
31, P.M. 26 26 82 15 8 10 }
June 1, P.M. 25 51 84 23 8 8 }
7, P.M. 27 23 97 16 5 45 }
8. A.M. 27 20 97 51 5 45 }
10. A.M. 26 30 98 25 5 40 }
12, P.M. 26 53 100 21 4 13 }In Crossing the South Sea
16, P.M. 28 11 111 15 2 00 }
17, A.M. 28 04 112 37 1 51 }
18. P.M. 28 07 113 55 2 00 }
20. A.M. 28 04 116 29 2 09 }
30. P.M. 26 00 130 55 2 32 }
July 2. P.M. 25 02 133 38 2 46 }Off Pitcairn's Island.
3, 25 00 136 16 2 30 }
4, A.M. 25 24 137 18 3 43 }
5, A.M. 24 56 137 23 5 24 }
6. A.M. 24 32 138 31 4 16 }
7, A.M. 24 10 139 55 5 12 }
P.M. 4 02 }
8. A.M. 23 46 139 55 5 56 }
10, P.M. 21 38 141 36 4 20 }
12, A.M. 20 36 145 39 4 40 }Crossing the South Sea.
20,38 146 00 5 00 }
13, P.M. 21 07 147 44 5 46 }
15, A.M. 21 46 150 50 6 23 }
16, P.M. 22 02 151 09 6 34 }
19, P.M. 19 50 153 59 6 08 }
20, P.M. 19 08 156 15 7 09 }
21, P.M. 18 43 158 27 7 38 }
1767. South. West. East.
July 23, P.M. 16°22' 162 32' 6 05' }
24, P.M. 14 19 163 34 6 29 }
25, A.M. 12 13 164 50 9 30 }
P.M. - - - 9 40 }
26, A.M. 10 01 166 52 9 00 }
28, A.M. 9 50 171 26 9 04 }
30, A.M. 9 50 175 38 9 32 }
P.M. - - - 9 00 } Crossing the South Sea.
Aug. 1, A.M. 9 53 179 33 10 04 }
East. }
2, A.M. 10 09 178 58 10 30 }
4, A.M. 10 22 177 10 10 54 }
5, A.M. 10 35 175 50 11 14 }
P.M. - - - - 10 52 }
7, P.M. 10 52 172 23 11 17 }
8, P.M. 11 02 171 15 10 27
9, A.M. 10 56 171 00 10 02
11, P.M. 10 49 167 00 10 38
Cape Byron - 10 40 164 49 11 00 }N.E. end of Egmont, one of
}the Charlotte Islands.
18, P.M. 9 58 162 57 8 30
19, P.M. 8 52 160 41 8 30
20, A.M. 7 53 158 56 8 31
7 56 158 56 8 20 }Off Carterets's and
}Gowers's Isl.
22, P.M. 6 24 157 32 7 42
24, P.M. 5 07 155 08 6 25
26, P.M. 4 46 153 17 7 14
In sight and on the west side of } 6 30
Nova Britannia. }
C.Saint George. 5 00 152 19 5 20 }Nova Hibernia.
In St George's Channel 4 40 }Nova Britannia
}here the land
}seemed to have an
}effect on the needle.
Sept. 16, A.M. 2 19 145 31 6 30 }Off the Admiralty Islands.
19, A.M. 1 57 143 28 5 26 }
1 45 143 02 4 40 }
20, P.M. 1 33 142 22 4 40 }
21, A.M. 1 20 141 29 4 54 }
22, P.M. 0 52 139 56 4 30 }
23, P.M. 0 05 138 56 4 17 }
North. - - }From the Admiralty Islands
24, P.M. 0 05 138 41 3 09 }to the island of Mindanao.
27, A.M. 2 13 136 41 2 30 }
P.M. - - - - 2 09 }
2 50 136 17 2 00 }
30, A.M. 4 25 134 37 1 41 }
Oct. 3, A.M. 4 41 132 51 3 09 }
P.M. - - 3 14 }
5, P.M. 4 31 132 39 3 10 }
1767. North. West. West.
Oct. 6, A.M. 4°21' 132°45' 3°33 }
8, A.M. 3 53 134 13 3 38 }
9, A.M. 4 03 134 04 3 11 }
12, P.M. 4 49 133 42 2 19 }From the Admiralty Islands
13, P.M. 5 12 133 27 2 20 }to the island of Mindanao.
16, A.M. 5 54 133 10 2 34 }
27, P.M. 6 35 127 56 2 10 }
Caps St Aug. 6 15 127 20 1 45 }Island of Mindanao.
South End 5 34 126 25 1 20 }Off the island Mindanao.
Nov. 6, A.M. 5 34 125 40 0 48 }
P.M. - - - - 0 49 }
7, P.M. 5 37 125 23 0 39 }
8, P.M. 5 30 124 41 0 50 }
14, A.M. 1 57 122 04 0 06 }From the island of Mindanao
26, P.M. 0 04 118 15 0 19 }to the Streights of
South. }Macassar.
27, A.M. 0 14 117 45 0 12 }
Dec. 7. 3 26 116 45 0 27 }
Bonthain 5 30 117 53 1 16 }At the Island of Celebes.
Island Tonikaky 5 31 117 17 1 00 }Off the S.E. end of the
1768. }Island Celebes.
May 29, P.M. 5 29 110 23 0 56
Off Madura - 0 30 }On the N.E. part of the
Batavia - - 0 25 }island of Java.
Sept.30,P.M. 7 41 101 36 0 51 }
Oct. 2, P.M. 10 37 97 19 2 06 }
4, P.M. 12 13 93 56 3 12 }
12, P.M. 19 50 76 40 3 30 }
14, P.M. 21 47 72 47 6 26 }
15, P.M. 22 53 70 47 8 09 }
17, A.M. 24 23 68 02 9 36 }
P.M. - - 11 20 }
18, P.M. 25 08 67 21 11 50 }
19, P.M. 25 08 67 08 12 49 }
20, A.M. 24 59 66 35 12 54 }
P.M. - - - - 11 48 }
24, A.M. 23 21 64 31 12 54 }From the Streights of Sunda
25, P.M. 23 23 63 35 12 39 }to the Cape of Good Hope.
26, A.M. 23 32 62 43 13 42 }
28, P.M. 24 52 60 14 16 10 }
30, P.M. 25 40 56 50 18 18 }
31, P.M. 26 31 54 49 18 24 }
Nov. 1, A.M. 27 05 52 57 20 12 }
P.M. - - - - 20 20 }
3, A.M. 27 40 50 55 20 58 }
P.M. - - - - 21 23 }
4, P.M. 27 42 50 10 21 15 }
5, P.M. 27 44 49 01 21 09 }
6, P.M. 28 58 46 23 22 38 }
1768. South. East. West.
Nov. 7, A.M. 29°59' 43'55 24°40 }
P.M. - - - - 24 55 }
8, P.M. 30 12 42 51 25 39 }
9, A.M. 30 19 41 97 25 50 }
10, P.M. 30 37 40 48 25 32 }
11, A.M. 32 02 38 47 25 08 }
12, P.M. 32 39 37 17 25 02 }From the Streights of Sunda
13, P.M. 33 21 35 27 25 05 }toThe Cape of Good Hope.
19, P.M. 35 17 28 38 22 32 }
20, P.M. 35 42 27 22 22 46 }
21, P.M. 35 46 27 00 22 18 }
22, P.M. 35 04 26 29 22 50 }
23, P.M. 34 57 25 46 21 39 }
24, P.M. 34 52 25 28 21 44 }
C. Good Hope. 34 24 18 30 19 40 }
1769.
Jan. 9, P.M. 30 37 13 08 19 20 }
14, P.M. 22 16 4 52 16 19 }
15, P.M. 21 04 3 54 16 81 }From the Cape to the island
18, P.M. 17 05 0 10 14 38 }of Saint Helena.
West. }
19, P.M. 16 06 1 38 13 46 }
25, P.M. 14 22 7 04 12 30 }From the island of Saint
26, P.M. 12 54 8 05 11 47 }Helena to the island of
27, P.M. 11 36 9 25 11 40 }Ascension.
28, P.M. 10 26 10 36 10 46 }
Feb. 2, P.M. 6 45 14 42 9 34 }
3, P.M. 5 04 15 45 9 04 }
4, A.M. 3 26 16 49 9 10 }
5, P.M. 2 01 17 34 8 58 }
6, P.M. 0 20 18 27 8 32 }
North. }
7, P.M. 0 58 19 24 8 37 }
8, A.M. 1 56 20 16 8 25 }
10, P.M. 2 39 28 58 7 21 }
15, P.M. 6 38 32 40 4 35 }From the island of
16, P M. 8 03 24 18 6 09 }Ascension to England.
19, P.M. 12 06 24 34 6 48 }
21, P.M. 14 39 27 15 6 12 }
26, A.M. 23 54 28 15 6 00 }
March 3,P.M. 32 33 23 35 13 26 }
4,A.M. 34 02 22 32 13 43 }
5,P.M. 35.30 21 56 14 53 }
6,A.M. 36 46 21 23 15 15 }
P.M. - - - - 14 58 }
etween the islands of Tercera } 13 36 }
and Saint Michael.
1769. North. West. West.
Mar. 28. P.M. 39°09' 19° 02' 16° 46' From this day till my arrival
in England, the weather was
so bad that we had no
opportunity of making any
observation of the variation.

N.B. The ill sailing of the Swallow prevented me from getting a sufficient number of soundings to make a separate Table.

[CHAPTER IV.]

AN ACCOUNT OF A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, IN THE YEARS 1768, 1769, 1770, AND 1771, BY LIEUTENANT JAMES COOK, COMMANDER OF HIS MAJESTY'S BARK THE ENDEAVOUR. [In addition to Cook's papers, Dr Hawkesworth had the use of a journal kept by Sir Joseph Banks, in drawing up the account of this voyage; a favour which he has not neglected to specify in his introduction. That introduction, however, and several references to plates, with some other matters deemed of little or no import, or elsewhere given, are now omitted.]