276 cook's first voyage OCT. 



On the 5th, wc thought the water changed colour, 

 but, upon casting the lead, had no ground with 180 

 fathom. In the evening of this day, the variation 

 was 12° 50' E., and, while we were going nine leagues, 

 it increased to 14° 2'. 



On the next day, Friday, October the 6th, we saw 

 land from the mast-head, bearing W. by N., and stood 

 directly for it ; in the evening, it could just be dis- 

 cerned from the deck, and appeared large. The 

 variation this day was, by azimuth and amplitude, 

 15° 4i' E., and by observation made of the sun and 

 moon, the longitude of the ship appeared to be ISO"" 

 55' W., and by the medium of this and subsequent 

 observations, there appeared to be an error in the 

 ship's account of longitude during her run from Ota- 

 heite of 3° 16', she being so much to the westward of 

 the longitude resulting from the log. At midnight, 

 I brought to and sounded, but had no ground with 

 one hundred and seventy fathom. 



On the 7thj it fell calm, we therefore approached 

 the land slowly, and in the afternoon, when a breeze 

 sprung up, we were still distant seven or eight 

 leagues. It appeared still larger as it was more dis- 

 tinctly seen, with four or five ranges of hills, rising 

 one over the other, and a chain of mountains above 

 all, which appeared to be of an enormous height. 

 This land became the subject of much eager convers- 

 ation ; but the general opinion seemed to be that we 

 had found the Terra austraUs incognita. About ^ve 

 o'clock, we saw the opening of a bay, which seemed 

 to run pretty far inland, upon which we hauled our 

 wind and stood in for it ; we also saw smoke ascend- 

 ing from different places onshore. When night came 

 on, however, we kept plying off and on till day-light, 

 when we found ourselves to the leeward of the bay, 

 the wind being at north : we could now perceive that 

 the hills were clothed with wood, and that some of 

 the trees in the valleys were very large. By noon we 

 fetched in with the south-west point ; but not being 



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