1779* THE PACIFIC OCEAN. KJ3 



side. No other method was therefore left, but to cat 

 a hole through the bulk-head (or partition) that 

 separated the coal hole from the fore-hold, and by 

 that means to make a passage for the body of water 

 into the well. However, before that it could be 

 done, it was necessary to get the casks of dry pro- 

 visions out of the fore-hold, which kept us employed 

 the greatest part of the night ; so that the carpenters 

 could not get at the partition till the next morning. 

 As soon as a passage was made, the greatest part 

 of the water emptied itself into the well, and enabled 

 us to get out the rest with buckets. But the leak 

 was now so much increased, that we were obliged to 

 keep one half of the people constantly pumping and 

 baleing, till the noon of the 15th. Our men bore, 

 with great cheerfulness, this excessive fatigue, which 

 was much increased by their having no dry place to 

 sleep in ; and, on this account, we began to serve 

 their full allowance of grog. 



The weather now becoming more moderate, and 

 the swell less heavy, we were enabled to clear away 

 the rest of the casks from the fore-hold, and to open 

 a sufficient passage for the water to the pumps. 

 This day we saw a greenish piece of drift-wood, and 

 fancying the water coloured, we sounded, but got no 



bottom with a hundred and sixty fathoms of line. 



Our latitude, at noon this day, was 41° 5%', longitude 

 161° 15"; variation 6° 30' east; and the wind soon 

 after veering to the northward, we altered our course 

 three points to the west. 



On the 16th, at noon, we were in the latitude of 

 4:2° 12', and in the longitude of 160° 5'; and as we 

 were now approaching the place where a great extent 

 of land is said to have been seen by De Gama, we 

 were glad of the opportunity which the course we 

 were steering gave, of contributing to remove the 

 doubts, if any should be still entertained, respecting 

 the falsehood of this pretended discovery. For it is 



M 2 



