t sunset anchored in twenty fathom, clean sand, about
five leagues from the Bluff point, which was not a cape (as it appeared
at a great distance), but the easternmost end of an island about five or
six leagues in length, and one in breadth. There were three or four
rocky islands about a league from us, between us and the Bluff point, and
we saw many other islands both to the east and west of it, as far as we
could see either way from our topmast-head, and all within them to the
south there was nothing but islands of a pretty height, that may be seen
eight or nine leagues off; by what we saw of them they must have been a
range of islands of about twenty leagues in length, stretching from east-
north-east to west-south-west, and, for aught I know, as far as to those
of Shark's Bay, and to a considerable breadth also, for we could see nine
or ten leagues in among them, towards the continent or mainland of New
Holland, if there be any such thing hereabouts; and by the great tides I
met with awhile afterwards, more to the north-east, I had a strong
suspicion that here might be a kind of archipelago of islands, and a
passage possibly to the south of New Holland and New Guinea into the
great South Sea eastward, which I had thoughts also of attempting in my
return from New Guinea, had circumstances permitted, and told my officers
so; but I would not attempt it at this time, because we wanted water, and
could not depend upon finding it there. This place is in the latitude of
20 degrees 21 minutes, but in the draught that I had of this coast, which
was Tasman's, it was laid down in 19 degrees 50 minutes, and the shore is
laid down as all along joining in one body or continent, with some
openings appearing like rivers, and not like islands as really they are.
This place lies more northerly by 40 minutes than is laid down in Mr.
Tasman's draught, and besides its being made a firm continued land, only
with some openings like the mouths of rivers, I found the soundings also
different from what the pricked line of his course shows them, and
generally shallower than he makes them, which inclines me to think that
he came not so near the shore as his line shows, and so had deeper
soundings, and could not so well distinguish the islands. His meridian
or difference of longitude from Shark's Bay agrees well enough with my
account, which is two hundred and thirty-two leagues, though we differ in
latitude; and to confirm my conjecture that t