Before we embarked any of the provisions, we heeled the ship, to endeavour to stop the leak, which had kept the pumps so much employed during the voyage, and which I mentioned before, I was in hopes of being able, in fine weather, to get at, and stop at sea; but, after several attempts, we found it impracticable:  we were now so fortunate as to get at it; it proceeded from an iron bolt, which had been corroded by the copper, and by the working of the ship had dropt out, and left a hole of more than an inch in diameter.  A wooden plug was put in, and covered again with copper.  But beside this leak, there were many other smaller holes, which were occasioned by the decay of long spikenails with which the skirting-board (which secures the upper edge of the copper) had been fastened on, and had gone quite through the main plank of the ship’s bottom.  All were closed, as far as we examined, and the ship for the present made less water, but was not so tight as formerly; it was therefore my intention, upon my arrival at Port Jackson, to represent to Governor Phillip the necessity there was to lighten and examine the ship some distance below the wales; that such defects as we might find might be remedied while they were trifling.

The time-keeper, which I have already mentioned to have had upon our arrival here an error of 1 deg. 31’, seemed, during the time we lay in Table-Bay, to have gradually recovered its original rate, (viz. 4"-77,) it was now losing 4"-78; this served to convince me of the justice of my conjecture, that it had been considerably affected by the very cold weather we had near Cape Horn.

After we left the Cape of Good Hope, we had, for three weeks, strong gales from the southward, with squally disagreeable weather, which sometimes reduced our sails as low as courses; we did not meet with westerly winds quite so soon as I expected, or as we had done the last time we made this passage.  In latitude 38 deg. 30’ and in the meridian of the Cape, we had, for two days, a current to the northward of 44 miles each day; and in latitude 40 deg., and longitude 22 deg. east, we were, in two days, set 68 miles to the southward, and by the watch, 60 miles to the eastward, more than the log gave.  In latitude 41 deg. 50’ south, and longitude 28 deg. 09’ east, the wind shifted from the southward to the north-north-east, and blew a very strong gale for two days; it then settled in the north-west quarter.

At that time, being in latitude 43 deg. 00’ south, and longitude 37 deg. 30’ east, we found the variation of the compass had encreased as high as 32 deg. 20’ west, before we had reached as much east longitude as we found that variation in last passage; but we were now in a higher latitude, as will appear by the variation table which is annexed at the end of this chapter.