A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13 eBook

Robert Kerr (writer)
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 794 pages of information about A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13.

A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13 eBook

Robert Kerr (writer)
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 794 pages of information about A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13.
1/2 W., distant about two leagues.  Four or five leagues to the north of this head-land we saw three islands, near which lay some that were still smaller, and we could see the shoals and reefs without us, extending to the northward, as far as these islands:  Between these reefs and the headland we directed our course, leaving to the eastward a small island, which lies N. by E., distant four miles from the three islands.  At noon, we were got between the headland and the three islands:  From the head-land we were distant two leagues, and from the islands four; our latitude by observation was 14 deg. 51’.  We now thought we saw a clear opening before us, and hoped that we were once more out of danger; in this hope, however, we soon found ourselves disappointed, and for that reason I called the head-land Cape Flattery.  It lies in latitude 14 deg. 56’ S., longitude 214 deg. 43’ W., and is a lofty promontory, making next the sea in two hills, which have a third behind them, with low sandy ground on each side:  It may, however, be still better known by the three islands out at sea:  The northermost and largest lies about five leagues from the cape, in the direction of N.N.E.  From Cape Flattery the land trends away N.W. and N.W. by W. We steered along the shore N.W. by W. till one o’clock, for what we thought the open channel; when the potty officer at the mast-head cried-out that he saw land a-head, extending quite round to the islands that lay without us, and a large reef between us and them:  Upon this I ran up to the mast-head myself, from whence I very plainly saw the reef, which was now so far to windward, that we could not weather it, but the land a-head, which he had supposed to be the main, appeared to me to be only a bluster of small islands.  As soon as I got down from the mast-head, the master and some others went up, who all insisted that the land a-head was not islands, but the main; and, to make their report still more alarming, they said that they saw breakers all round us.  In this dilemma, we hauled upon a wind in for the land, and made the signal for the boat that was sounding a-head to come on board, but as she was far to leeward, we were obliged to edge away to take her up, and soon after we came to an anchor, under a point of the main, in somewhat less than five fathom, and at about the distance of a mile from the shore.  Cape Flattery now bore S.E. distant three leagues and a half.  As soon as the ship was at anchor, I went ashore upon the point, which is high, and afforded me a good view of the sea coast, trending away N.W. by W. eight or ten leagues, which, the weather not being very clear, was as far as I could see.  Nine or ten small low islands, and some shoals, appeared off the coast; I saw also some large shoals between the main and the three high islands, without which, I was clearly of opinion there were more islands, and not any part of the main.  Except the point I was now upon, which I called Point Lookout,
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A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.