d smooth water, the land of New Holland distant from three to five
miles.

Nothing could more strongly prove the excellence and utility of lunar
observations, than the accuracy with which we made the land in this long
voyage from the Cape of Good Hope, there not being a league difference
between our expectation of seeing it, and the real appearance of it.

A thick haze hanging over the land, few observations could be made of it.
What we first saw was the South-west Cape of New Holland, between which
and the South Cape the land appeared high and rocky, rising gradually
from the shore, and wearing in many places a very barren aspect. In small
cavities, on the summit of some of the high land, was the appearance of
snow. Over the South Cape the land seemed covered with wood; the trees
stood thick, and the bark of them appeared in general to have a whitish
cast. The coast seemed very irregular, projecting into low points forming
creeks and bays, some of which seemed to be deep; very little verdure was
any where discernible; in many spots the ground looked arid and sterile.
At night we perceived several fires lighted on the coast, at many of
which, no doubt, were some of the native inhabitants, to whom it was
probable our novel appearance must have afforded matter of curiosity and
wonder.

In all the preceding passage we had been scarcely a day without seeing
birds of different kinds; and we also met with many whales. The weather
was in general very rough, and the sea high, but the wind favourable,
blowing mostly from north-west to south-west.

The convoy behaved well, paying more attention and obedience to signals
than ships in the merchant service are commonly known to do. The ships,
however, began to grow foul, not one of them being coppered, and we now
anxiously wished for a termination of the voyage, particularly as the hay
provided for the horses was on the point of being wholly expended.

The fair wind which had accompanied us to New Holland suddenly left us,
shifting round to north-east and by east; we were obliged to lay our
heads off-shore, in order to weather Swilly and the Eddystone (a
perpendicular rock about a league to the eastward of Swilly) and the next
day we had the mortification of a foul wind, a thing to which we had been
long unaccustomed.

In the night of the 9th the _Golden Grove_ shipped a sea, which stove in
all her cabin windows: it was nearly calm at the time, with a confused
heavy swell*.