4 o NORTHMOST AUSTRALIA 



had to be used all the time. In the afternoon, anchored in 4 fathoms, having drifted 

 with the ebb 2^ miles. 



" On the 4*, the wind NE. by N., good weather. Set sail again. In the afternoon, 

 anchored in 7 fathoms, out of sight of land, having drifted with the current 8 miles 

 W. by N. 



" NOTE. Here, after immense difficulty and peril, we had again (God be thanked !) 

 got clear of the aforesaid shoals, between which and the land we had sailed as into 

 a trap. The shoals extend S. and N., from 4 to 9 miles out from the mainland, and 

 are 10 miles from E. to W. 



" On the $th, we sailed again at daylight, the wind ENE., on courses varying 

 between SW. and S., whereby we got into deeper water, from 14 to 26 fathoms, and 

 sailed 18 miles [72 minutes] this day [" het etmael," a day of 24 hours: hence, 

 probably, from daylight of the 5th to daylight of the 6th. R. L. J.]. 



" On the 6th, the wind SW., with rain, course SE. At night, latitude 9 45', 

 and sailed in the day ESE. II miles. [How was the night latitude determined f 

 R. L. J.] 



" On the Jth, the wind SE., course E., in 15 or 16 fathoms water, and till evening 

 sailed 4 miles. At night turned SE., and towards daylight [of the 8th. R. L. J.] 

 anchored in 4 fathoms, but as the yacht swung to the anchor came on 2 fathoms, and 

 during the night sailed 3 miles. 



" In the morning of the 8th, saw distinctly many stones lying on the bottom, 

 but to have such a change in the water (as from 26 fathoms) showed that the land 

 here (though unseen) must be very dangerous to touch at, and it was only through 

 God's providence that the yachts were not wrecked. Got under sail at noon, being 

 in 10 15', the wind W. by S., and later on variable, till next morning [9th], sailed 

 6 miles SSW., in 10 and n fathoms." 



[EDITORIAL NOTE. The Admiralty chart shows, in lat. 10 15' S. 



and 141 E., a reef or shoal reported by the " Glamis Castle " in 



1881, and it was probably here that the "Pera's" captain was 



alarmed by the sudden shoaling of the water in a cable's length. 



-R. L. J.] 



" On the gth, the wind NE., with rain, course SE. In the evening wind SE. 

 Therefore anchored in 1 1 fathoms, and this day sailed 5 miles. 



" In the morning of the loth, the wind ENE., course SE., in 9, 10 and II fathoms. 

 In the evening wind SE., whereupon anchored, having sailed 5 miles. 



" On the nth, the wind E. by N., a fair breeze, course SSE., lat. at noon 11 30'. 

 For the whole of this day and night tried, with varying winds and courses, to get south, 

 and in the 24 hours sailed 22 miles [88 minutes]. Course held SE. [SEE MAP B.] 



" In the morning of the 12*^, the wind SE., good weather, and at sunrise saw the 

 land of NOVA GUINEA (being low, with neither mountains nor hills), 13$- fathoms, 

 clay bottom, course SSW., noon latitude 11 45', and sailed in the 24 hours SW 

 10 miles [40 minutes]." 



[EDITORIAL NOTE. The men on the "Per a " first saw AUSTRALIA, 

 which they believed to be continuous with New Guinea, on 

 1 2th April, 1623, probably from a distance of about 35 knots, the 

 nearest land being that west of Port Musgrave. My many attempts 

 to chart the " Percfs " course across the western entrance to 

 Torres Strait only serve to convince me that Carstenszoon over- 

 estimated the distances covered, and this tendency probably 

 reflected the mood of the navigators after their escape from the 



