Providential Channel. 127 
the confequence might be-; far if we had now gone without 
the reef again, it might have carried us fo far from the coaft, 
as to prevent my being able to determine, whether this coun- 
try did, or did not, join to New-Guinea ; a queflion which I 
was determined to re.olve from my firll coming within fight 
of land. However, as I had experienced the difadvantage of 
having a boat under repair, at a time when it was poliible I 
might want to ule her, I determined to remain fad at anchor, 
till the pinnace was perfectly refitted. As I had no employ- 
ment for the other boats, I fent them out in the morning to 
the reef, to fee what refrelhments could be procured, and Mr. 
Banks in his little boat, accompanied by Dr. Solander, went 
with them. In this fituation I found the variation by ampli- 
tude and azimuth to be 4 0 9' E. ; and at noon, our latitude by 
obfervation was 12 0 38' S. and our longitude 216° 45' W. 
The main land extended from N. 66 W. to S. W. by S. and 
the nearelt part of it was diftant about 9 leagues. The open- 
ing through which we had palfed, I called Providential 
Channel; and this bore E. N. E. diftant ten or twelve 
miles : on the main land within us was a lofty promontory, 
which I called Cape Weymouth; on the north fide of 
which is a bay, which I called Weymouth Bay : they lie 
in latitude 1 2 0 42' S., longitude 1 27 0 1 5' W. At four o’clock 
in the afternoon the boats returned with two hundred and forty 
poundof the meat of Ihell filh, chiefly of cockles, fome of which 
were as much as two men could move, and contained twenty 
pounds of good meat. Mr. Banks alio brought back many 
curious fhells, and Mollufca ; befides many fpecies of coral, 
among which was that called the ’Tubipora Mujica. 
At fix o’clock in the morning we got under fail and flood 
away to the N. W. having two boats ahead to diredt us ; our 
foundings were very irregular, varying five or fix fathom every 
call, between ten and twenty-feven. A little before noon, 
we palfed a low fandy ifland, which we left on our ftarboard 
fide, at the diflance of two miles. At noon our latitude was 
12 0 28', and oar diflance from the main about four leagues ■ 
it extended from S. by W. to N. 71 W. and fomefmall iflands 
from N. 40 W. to 54 W. Between us and the main were fe- 
veral Ihoals, and fome without us, befides tl^e main or outer- 
moft reef, which we could fee from the mart-head, ftrelching 
away to theN. E. At two in the afternoon, as we were fleer- 
ing N. W. by N. we faw a large fhoal right ahead, extend- 
ing three or four points upon each bow ; upon this we hauled 
up N. N. E. and N. E. by N*. to get round the north point 
of it, which we reached by four, and then edged away to the 
weftward, and ran between the north end of this fhoal and 
another, which lies two miles to thenorthward of it, having- a 
boat all the way ahead founding ; our depth of water was frill 
very 
