Departure for New Guinea. J55 
the boats again after dinner, with a fmall line, to difcover 
where it lay ; this being happily effected, we fwept for it 
with a hawfer, and by the fame hawfer hove the lliip up to it : 
we proceeded to weigh it, but juft as we were about to Ihip it, 
the haufer flipped, and we had all our labour to repeat : by 
this time it was dark, and we were obliged to fufpend our 
operations till the morning. 
As foonas it was light, we fweeped it again, and heaved 
it to the bows : by eight o’clock, we weighed the other an- 
chor, got under fail, and, with a fine breeze at E. N. E. 
flood to the north weft. At noon, our latitude, by obferva- 
tion, was io° 18' S. longitude 219° 39' W. At this time, 
we had no land in fight, but about two miles to the fouthward 
pf us lay a large fhoal, upon which the fea broke with great 
violence, and part of which, I believe, is dry at low water, 
It extends N. W. andS. E. and is about five leagues in cir- 
cuit. Our depth of water, from the time we weighed till 
now, was nine fathom, but it foon fhallowed to feven fathom ; 
and at half an hour after one, having run eleven miles between 
noon and that time, the boat which was a-head made the 
fignal for fhoal water ; we immediately let go an anchor, 
and brought the Ihip up with all her fails Handing, for the 
boat having juft been relieved, was at but a little diftance : 
upon looking out from the Ihip, we faw fhoal water almoft all 
yound us, both wind and tide at the fame time fetting upon 
it. The fhip was in fix fathom, but upon founding round 
her, at the diftance of half a cable’s length, we found fcarce- 
ly two. This fhoal reached from the eaft, round by the north 
and weft, as far as the fouth weft, fo that there was no way 
for us to get clear, but that which we came, This was an- 
other hair’s breadth efcape, for it was near high water, and 
there run a fhort cockling fea, which muft very foon havp 
bulged the fhip if fhe had ftruck ; and if her direction had 
been half a cable’s length more either to the right or left, 
fhe muft have ftruck before the fignal for the fhoal was made. 
The fboals which, like thefe, lie a fathom or two under wai- 
ter, are the moft dangerous of any, for they do not difcover 
themfelves till the veflel is juft upon them, and then indeed 
the water looks brown, as if it reflected a dark cloud. Be- 
tween three and four o’clock the tide of ebb began to make, 
and I fent the Mafter to found to the fouthward and fouth- 
weftward, and in the mean time, as the fhip tended, I weigh- 
ed anchor, apd with a little fail flood firft to the fouthward, 
and afterwards edging away to the weflward, get once more 
out of danger. At funfet we anchored in ten fathom, wifh a 
fandy bottom, having a frefh gale at E. S. E. 
' At fix in the morning we weighed again and flood weft, 
having, as ufual, firft fend a boat ahead to found. I had in- 
tended 
