ometimes a crooked or inclined direction. The most rational
account I have read of water-spouts, is in Mr Falconer's Marine Dictionary,
which is chiefly collected from the philosophical writings of the ingenious
Dr Franklin. I have been told that the firing of a gun will dissipate them;
and I am very sorry I did not try the experiment, as we were near enough,
and had a gun ready for the purpose; but as soon as the danger was past, I
thought no more about it, being too attentive in viewing these
extraordinary meteors At the time this happened, the barometer stood at 29,
75, and the thermometer at 56.[1]
In coming from Cape Farewell to Cape Stephens, I had a better view of the
coast than I had when I passed in my former voyage, and observed that about
six leagues to the east of the first-mentioned cape, is a spacious bay,
which is covered from the sea by a low point of land. This is, I believe,
the same that Captain Tasman anchored in on the 18th of December, 1642, and
by him called Murderer's Bay, by reason of some of his men being killed by
the natives. Blind Bay, so named by me in my former voyage, lies to the
S.E. of this, and seems to run a long way inland to the south; the sight,
in this direction, not being bounded by any land. The wind having returned
to the west, as already mentioned, we resumed our course to the east; and
at day-light the next morning (being the 18th,) we appeared off Queen
Charlotte's Sound, where we discovered our consort the Adventure, by the
signals she made to us; an event which every one felt with an agreeable
satisfaction. The fresh westerly wind now died away, and was succeeded by
light airs from the S. and S.W., so that we had to work in with our boats
a-head towing. In the doing of this we discovered a rock, which we did not
see in my former voyage. It lies in the direction of S. by E. 1/2 E.,
distant four miles from the outermost of the Two Brothers, and in a line
with the White Rocks, on with the middle of Long Island. It is just even
with the surface of the sea, and hath deep water all round it. At noon,
Lieutenant Kemp of the Adventure came on board; from whom I learnt that
their ship had been here about six weeks. With the assistance of a light
breeze, our boats, and the tides, we at six o'clock in the evening, got to
an anchor in Ship Cove, near the Adventure, when Captain Furneaux came on
board, and gave me the following account of his proceedings, from the time
we parted to my a
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