168 cook's first voyage august, 



We had fresh gales at S. E., with hazy weather and 

 rain, till two in the morning of the 31st, when the 

 weather being something more moderate, I had 

 thoughts of trying to warp the ship out of the harbour; 

 but upon going out myself first in the boat, I found 

 it still blow too fresh for the attempt. During all 

 this time the pinnace and yawl continued to ply the 

 net and hook with tolerable success ; sometimes 

 taking a turtle, and frequently bringing in from two 

 to three hundred weight of fish. 



On the 1st of August the carpenter examined the 

 pumps, and, to our great mortification, found them 

 all in a state of decay, owing, as he said, to the sap 

 having been left in the wood ; one of them was so 

 rotten, as, when hoisted up, to drop to pieces, and 

 the rest were little better ; so that our chief trust was 

 now in the soundness of our vessel, which happily did 

 not admit more than one inch of water in an hour. 



At six o'clock in the morning of Friday, the 3d, 

 we made another unsuccessful attempt to warp the 

 ship out of the harbour ; but at H\e o'clock in the 

 morning of the 4th, our efforts had a better effect, 

 and about seven we got once more under sail, with 

 a light air from the land, which soon died away, and 

 was followed by the sea-breezes from S. E. by S., 

 with which we stood off to sea E. by N., having the 

 pinnace ahead, which was ordered to keep sounding 

 continually. The yawl had been sent to the turtle 

 bank, to take up the net which had been left there ; 

 but as the wind freshened, we got out before her. 

 A little before noon we anchored in fifteen fathom 

 water, with a sandy bottom ; for I did not think it 

 safe to run in among the shoals till I had well viewed 

 them at low water from the mast-head, which might 

 determine me which way to steer ; for, as yet, I was 

 in doubt whether I should beat back to the south- 

 ward, round all the shoals, or seek a passage to the 

 eastward or the northward, all which at present 

 appeared to be equally difficult and dangerous. 



