In coming from Cape Farewell to Cape Stephens, I had a better view of the coast than I had when I passed in my former voyage, and observed that about six leagues to the east of the first-mentioned cape, is a spacious bay, which is covered from the sea by a low point of land.  This is, I believe, the same that Captain Tasman anchored in on the 18th of December, 1642, and by him called Murderer’s Bay, by reason of some of his men being killed by the natives.  Blind Bay, so named by me in my former voyage, lies to the S.E. of this, and seems to run a long way inland to the south; the sight, in this direction, not being bounded by any land.  The wind having returned to the west, as already mentioned, we resumed our course to the east; and at day-light the next morning (being the 18th,) we appeared off Queen Charlotte’s Sound, where we discovered our consort the Adventure, by the signals she made to us; an event which every one felt with an agreeable satisfaction.  The fresh westerly wind now died away, and was succeeded by light airs from the S. and S.W., so that we had to work in with our boats a-head towing.  In the doing of this we discovered a rock, which we did not see in my former voyage.  It lies in the direction of S. by E. 1/2 E., distant four miles from the outermost of the Two Brothers, and in a line with the White Rocks, on with the middle of Long Island.  It is just even with the surface of the sea, and hath deep water all round it.  At noon, Lieutenant Kemp of the Adventure came on board; from whom I learnt that their ship had been here about six weeks.  With the assistance of a light breeze, our boats, and the tides, we at six o’clock in the evening, got to an anchor in Ship Cove, near the Adventure, when Captain Furneaux came on board, and gave me the following account of his proceedings, from the time we parted to my arrival here.

CHAPTER VII.

Captain Furneaux’s Narrative, from the Time the two Ships were separated, to their joining again in Queen Charlotte’s Sound, with some Account of Van Diemen’s Land.

1773 February

On the 7th of February, 1773, in the morning, the Resolution being then about two miles a-head, the wind shifting then to the westward, brought on a very thick fog; so that we lost sight of her.  We soon after heard a gun, the report of which we imagined to be on the larboard beam; we then hauled up S.E., and kept firing a four-pounder every half hour, but had no answer, nor further sight of her; then we kept the course we steered on before the fog came on.  In the evening it began to blow hard, and was at intervals more clear, but could see nothing of her, which gave us much uneasiness.  We then tacked and stood to the westward, to cruise in the place where we last saw her, according to agreement, in case of separation; but next day came on a very heavy gale of wind and thick weather, that obliged us to bring to, and thereby prevented us reaching the intended spot.  However, the wind coming more moderate, and the fog in some measure clearing away, we cruised as near the place as we could get, for three days; when giving over all hopes of joining company again, we bore away for winter quarters, distant fourteen hundred leagues, through a sea entirely unknown and reduced the allowance of water to one quart per day.