and spotted black and yellow. This day we sounded several times, and had
45 fathom sand. We did not make the land till noon, and then saw it first
from our topmast-head. It bore south-east by east about 9 leagues
distance; and it appeared like a cape or head of land. The seabreeze this
day was not so strong as the day before, and it veered out more; so that
we had a fair wind to run in with to the shore, and at sunset anchored in
20 fathom, clean sand, about 5 leagues from the bluff point; which was
not a cape (as it appeared at a great distance) but the easternmost end
of an island, about 5 or 6 leagues in length and 1 in breadth. There were
3 or 4 rocky islands about a league from us between us and the bluff
point; and we saw many other islands both to the east and west of it, as
far as we could see either way from our topmast-head: and all within them
to the south there was nothing but islands of a pretty height, that may
be seen 8 or 9 leagues off. By what we saw of them they must have been a
range of islands of about 20 leagues in length, stretching from
east-north-east to west-south-west and, for ought I know, as far as to
those of Shark's Bay; and to a considerable breadth also (for we could
see 9 or 10 leagues in among them) towards the continent or mainland of
New Holland, if there be any such thing hereabouts: and, by the great
tides I met with a while afterwards, more to the north-east, I had a
strong suspicion that here might be a kind of archipelago of islands and
a passage possibly to the south of New Holland and New Guinea into the
great South Sea eastward; which I had thoughts also of attempting in my
return from New Guinea (had circumstances permitted) and told my officers
so: but I would not attempt it at this time because we wanted water and
could not depend upon finding it there. This place is in the latitude of
20 degrees 21 minutes, but in the chart that I had of this coast, which
was Tasman's, it was laid down in 19 degrees 50 minutes, and the shore is
laid down as all along joining in one body or continent, with some
openings appearing like rivers; and not like islands, as really they are.