1?7^' ROUND THE WORLD. 5 



extended from S.W. by W. to N. by W. We were then 

 distant about three or four leagues from the nearest 

 shore, and in this situation had fifty fathom water, 

 with a fine sandy bottom. The variation of the com- 

 pass by this morning's amplitude was 14 39' E. 



At sunrise, the next morning, our opinion that 

 the land we had been standing for was an island, w r as 

 confirmed, by our seeing part of the land of Tovy 

 Poenammoo open to the westward of it, extending as 

 far as W. by S. At eight in the morning, the extremes 

 of the island bore N. ?6 W. and N. N. E. i E. ; and 

 an opening near the south point, which had the 

 appearance of a bay or harbour, N. 20 W. distant 

 between three and four leagues : in this situation we 

 had thirty-eight fathom water with a brown sandy 

 bottom. 



This island, which I named after Mr. Banks, lies 

 about rive leagues from the coast of Tovy Poenammoo : 

 the south point bears S. 21 W. from the highest peak 

 on the snowy mountain, and lies in latitude 43 39f S. 

 and in longitude 186^ 30' W. by an observation of the 

 sun and moon which was made this morning : it is of 

 a circular figure, and about twenty-four leagues in 

 compass : it is sufficiently high to be seen at the dis- 

 tance of twelve or fifteen leagues, and the land has a 

 broken irregular surface, with the appearance rather 

 of barrenness than fertility ; yet it was inhabited, for 

 we saw smoke in one place, and a few straggling 

 natives in another. 



When this island was first discovered in the direc- 

 tion of 8. by W. some persons on board were of opi- 

 nion that they also saw land bearing S. S. E. and S. E. 

 by E. I was myself upon the deck at the time, and 

 told them, that in my opinion it was no more than a 

 cloud, and that as the sun rose it would dissipate and 

 vanish. However, as 1 was determined to leave no 

 subject for disputation which experiment could re- 

 move, I ordered the ship to be wore, and steered 

 E. S. E. by compass, in the direction which the land 



b 3 



