I 
88 A VOYAGE TO [Cape of Good Hope. 
lsoi. erroneous in the position of this point ; but that 3^° 23', as assigned 
Octobei. . i 
Friday 16. to it by captain King, was correct.* 
At one o'clock we hauled round the rocks which lie off the 
Cape Point, and steered into False Bay. Near these rocks were two 
whales ; and one or more of what seamen call thrashers were en- 
gaged in a furious combat with them, at a less distance than half a 
mile from the ship. The sinewy strength of the thrasher must be 
very great ; for besides raising his tail high out of the water to beat 
the adversary, he occasionally threw the whole of his vast body 
several feet above the surface, apparently to fall upon him with 
greater force. Their struggles covered the sea with foam for many 
fathoms round. 
At three o'clock we got sight of the squadron lying in Simon's 
Bay. It consisted of His Majesty's ships Lancaster, Jupiter, Dio- 
mede, Imperieuse, Hindoostan, Rattlesnake, and Euphrosyne, under 
the command of vice-admiral sir Roger Curtis, Bart. The master of 
the Lancaster came on board to pilot the ship to a proper berth, and 
I went on shore to wait upon the vice-admiral. On showing my 
orders, and presenting an account of the supplies and the work re- 
quisite to put the Investigator in the same state as on leaving Eng- 
land, I found that the naval magazines could furnish only some 
part, and that many articles, especially biscuit, were not to be ob- 
tained ; but with great consideration for the service on which I was 
sent out, the commander in chief ordered every request to be granted 
either in the articles specified, or by substitution ; and a thorough 
caulking, both within and without side of the ship, being the work 
most essential to be done, a gang of caulkers, collected from the 
Saturday 17. squadron, was sent on board on the following morning. 
The water which is conducted in pipes to the wharf, for the 
convenience of shipping, was said not to keep well at sea; and the 
master of the Lancaster, from whom this information was obtained, 
recommended, as much superior, that which drains through the 
* See Cook's third Voyage, Vol. III. page 484. 
