242 COOK'S FIRST VOYAGE SEFT, 



to mention that the discoverers themselves had not 

 all the requisites for keeping an accurate journal, of 

 which those of the present age are possessed. 



We continued our course, steering W. till the 

 evening of the 8th, when the variation of the com- 

 pass, by several azimuths, was Vtf W%, and by the 

 amplitude 5' W. At noon, on the 9th, our latitude, 

 by observation, was 9 46' S., longitude 232 7' W. 

 For the last two days, we had steered due W., yet, 

 by observation, we made sixteen miles southing, six 

 miles from noon on the 6th to noon on the 7th, and 

 ten miles from noon on the 7th to noon on the 8th, 

 by which it appeared that there was a current setting 

 to the southward. At sunset, we found the vari- 

 ation to be 2 W., and at the same time, saw an ap- 

 pearance of very high land bearing N. W. 



In the morning of the 10th, we saw clearly that 

 what had appeared to be land the nigh! before, was 

 Timor. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 

 10 V S., which was fifteen miles to the southward of 

 that given by the log ; our longitude, by observation, 

 was 235" 27' W. We steered N. W. in order to ob- 

 tain a more distinct view of the land in sight, till four 

 o'clock in the morning of the 11th, when the wind 

 came to the N. W. and W., with which we stood to 

 the southward till nine, when we tacked and stood 

 N. W., having the wind now at W. S. W. At sun- 

 rise, the land had appeared to extend from W. N. W. 

 to N. E., and at noon, we could see it extend to the 

 westward as far as W. by S. |- S., but no farther to the 

 eastward than N. by E. We were now well assured, 

 that as the first land we had seen was Timor, the last 

 island we had passed was Timor Laoet, or Laut. 

 Laoet is a word, in the language of Malaca, signify- 

 ing sea, and this island was named by the inhabitants 

 of that country. The south part of it lies in latitude 

 8 15' S., longitude 228 10' W., but in the charts 

 the south point is laid down in various latitudes, 

 from 8 30' to 9 30' : it is indeed possible that the 



