At noon, this day, our latitude, by account, was 47° 52', and our longitude from Cape Saunders 1° 8' E. We stood to the southward till half an hour past three in the afternoon; and then, being in latitude 48° S. and longitude 188° W., and seeing no appearance of land, we tacked and stood to the northward, having a large swell from the S.W. by W. At noon, the next day, our latitude was 46° 42' S.; and Cape Saunders bore N. 46 W. distant eighty-six miles. The south-west swell continuing till the 3d, confirmed our opinion, that there was no land in that quarter. At four in the afternoon, we stood to the westward with all the sail we could make. In the morning of the 4th, we found the variation to be 16° 16' E. This day we saw some whales and seals, as we had done several times after our having passed the streight; but we saw no seals while we were upon the coast of Eahienomauwe. We sounded both in the night and this morning, but had no ground with one hundred and fifty fathom. At noon, we saw Cape Saunders bearing N. 1/2 W.; and our latitude by observation was 46° 31' S. At half an hour past one o'clock, we saw land bearing W. by S., which we steered for, and before it was dark were within three or four miles of it: During the whole night we saw fires upon it, and at seven in the morning were within about three leagues of the shore, which appeared to be high, but level. At three o'clock in the afternoon, we saw the land extending from N.E. by N. to N.W. 1/2 N.; and soon after we discovered some low land, which appeared like an island, bearing S. 1/2 W. We continued our course to the W. by S., and in two hours we saw high land over the low land, extending to the southward as far as S.W. by S.; but it did not appear to be joined to the land to the northward, so that there is either water, a deep bay, or low land between them.
At noon on the 6th, we were nearly in the same situation as at noon on the day before: In the afternoon we found the variation, by several azimuths and the amplitude, to be 15° 10' E. On the 7th at noon, we were in latitude 47° 6' S. and had made twelve miles easting during the last twenty-four hours. We stood to the westward the remainder of this day, and all the next till sun-set, when the extremes of the land bore from N. by E. to W. distant about seven or eight leagues: In this situation our depth of water was fifty-five fathom, and the variation by amplitude 16° 29' E. The wind now veered from the N. to the W., and as we had fine weather, and moon-light, we kept standing close upon the wind to the S.W. all night. At four in the morning, we had sixty fathom water; and at day-light, we discovered under our bow a ledge of rocks, extending from S. by W. to W. by S. upon which the sea broke very high: They were not more than three quarters of a mile distant, yet we had five-and-forty fathom water. As the wind was at N.W. we could not now weather them, and as I was unwilling to run to leeward, I tacked and made a trip to the eastward; the wind however soon after coming to the northward, enabled us to get clear of all. Our soundings, while we were passing within the ledge, were from thirty-five to forty-seven fathom, with a rocky bottom.
This ledge lies S.E. six leagues from the southermost part of the land, and S.E. by E. from some remarkable hills which stand near the shore: About three leagues to the northward of it, there is another ledge, which lies full three leagues from the shore, and on which the sea broke in a dreadful surf. As we passed these rocks to the north in the night, and discovered the others under our bow at break of day, it is manifest that our danger was imminent, and our escape critical in the highest degree: From the situation of these rocks, so well adapted to catch unwary strangers, I called them the Traps. Our latitude at noon was 47° 26' S. The land in sight, which had the appearance of an island, extended from N.E. by N. to N.W. by W. and seemed to be about five leagues distant from the main; the eastermost ledge of rocks bore S.S.E. distant one league and a half, and the northermost N.E. 1/2 E. distant about three leagues. This land is high and barren, with nothing upon it but a few straggling shrubs, for not a single tree was to be seen; it was however remarkable for a number of white patches which I took to be marble, as they reflected the sun's rays very strongly: Other patches of the same kind we had observed in different parts of this country, particularly in Mercury Bay: We continued to stand close upon a wind to the westward, and at sun-set the southermost point of land bore N. 38 E. distant four leagues, and the westermost land in sight bore N. 2 E. The point which lies in latitude 47° 19' S. longitude.192° 12' W. I named South Cape; the westermost land was a small island, lying off the point of the main.
Supposing South Cape to be the southern extremity of this country, as indeed it proved to be, I hoped to get round it by the west, for a large hollow swell from the south-west, ever since our last hard gale, had convinced me that there was no land in that direction.
In the night we had a hard gale at N.E. by N. and N. which brought us under our courses, but about eight in the morning it became moderate; and at noon veering to the west, we tacked and stood to the northward, having no land in sight. Our latitude, by observation, was 47° 33' S. our longitude, west from the South Cape, 59'. We stood away N.N.E. close upon a wind, without seeing any land, till two the next morning, when we discovered an island bearing N.W. by N. distant about five leagues: About two hours afterwards we saw land a-head, upon which we tacked and stood off till six, when we stood in to take a nearer view of it: At eleven we were within three leagues of it, but the wind seeming to incline upon the shore, I tacked and stood off to the southward. We had now sailed round the land which we had discovered on the 5th, and which then did not appear to be joined to the main which lay north of it; and being now come to the other side of what we supposed to be water, a bay, or low land, it had the same appearance, but when I came to lay it down upon paper I saw no reason to suppose it to be an island; on the contrary, I was clearly of opinion that it made part of the main. At noon, the western extremity of the main bore N. 59 W., and the island which we had seen in the morning S. 59 W. distant about five leagues. It lies in latitude 46° 31' S. longitude 192° 49' W., and is nothing but a barren rock about a mile in circuit, remarkably high, and lies full five leagues distant from the main. This island I named after Dr Solander, and called it Solander's Island. The shore of the main lies nearest E. by S. and W. by N. and forms a large open bay, in which there is no appearance of any harbour or shelter for shipping against S.W. and southerly winds: The surface of the country is broken into craggy hills, of a great height, on the summits of which are several patches of snow: It is not, however, wholly barren, for we could see wood not only in the vallies, but upon the highest ground, yet we saw no appearance of its being inhabited.
We continued to stand to the S.W. by S. till eleven o'clock the next morning, when the wind shifted to the S.W. by W., upon which we wore, and stood to the N.N.W., being then in latitude 47° 40' S. longitude 193° 50' W., and having a hollow sea from the S.W.
During the night, we steered N.N.W. till six in the morning, when, seeing no land, we steered N. by E. till eight, when we steered N.E. by E. 1/2 E. to make the land, which at ten we saw bearing E.N.E., but it being hazy, we could distinguish nothing upon it. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 46° S. About two it cleared up, and the land appeared to be high, rude, and mountainous.: About half an hour after three I hauled in for a bay, in which there appeared to be good anchorage; but in about an hour, finding the distance too great to run before it would be dark, and the wind blowing too hard to make the attempt safe in the night, I bore away along the shore.
This bay, which I called Dusky Bay, lies in latitude 45° 47' S.: It is between three and four miles broad at the entrance, and seems to be full as deep as it is broad: It contains several islands, behind which there must be shelter from all winds, though possibly there may not be sufficient depth of water. The north point of this bay, when it bears S.E. by S, is rendered very remarkable by five high peaked rocks which lie off it, and have the appearance of the four fingers and thumb of a man's hand, for which reason I called it Point Five Fingers: The land of this point is farther remarkable, for being the only level land within a considerable distance. It extends near two leagues to the northward, is lofty, and covered with wood. The land behind it is very different, consisting wholly of mountains, totally barren and rocky; and this difference gives the Cape the appearance of an island.
At sun-set, the southermost land in sight bore due south, distant about five or six leagues; and as this is the westermost point of land upon the whole coast, I called it West Cape. It lies about three leagues to the southward of Dusky Bay, in the latitude of 45° 54' S. and in the longitude of 193° 17' W. The land of this Cape is of a moderate height next the sea, and has nothing remarkable about it, except a very white cliff, two or three leagues to the southward of it: To the southward of it also the land trends away to the S.E. and to the northward it trends N.N.E.
Having brought-to for the night, we made sail along the shore at four in the morning, in the direction of N.E. 1/2 N. with a moderate breeze at S.S.E. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 45° 18' S. At this time, being about a league and a half from the shore, we sounded, but had no ground with seventy fathom: We had just passed a small narrow opening in land, where there seemed to be a very safe and convenient harbour, formed by an island, which lay in the middle of the opening at east. The opening lies in latitude 45° 16' S., and on the land behind it are mountains, the summits of which were covered with snow, that appeared to have been recently fallen; and indeed for two days past we had found the weather very cold. On each side the entrance of the opening, the land rises almost perpendicularly from the sea to a stupendous height, and this indeed was the reason why I did not carry the ship into it, for no wind could blow there but right in, or right out, in the direction of either east or west, and I thought it by no means advisable to put into a place whence I could not have got out but with a wind which experience had taught me did not blow more than one day in a month. In this, however, I acted contrary to the opinion of some persons on board, who in very strong terms expressed their desire to harbour for present convenience, without any regard to future disadvantages.