whale fishing, and were intended to sail for
the coast of Brazil to pursue the fishery, immediately on having landed the
convicts.

On the 14th of October, 1791, the 'Britannia', Captain Melville, one of
these ships, arrived at Sydney. In her passage between Van Diemen's Land
and Port Jackson, the master reported that he had seen a large shoal of
spermaceti whales. His words were, 'I saw more whales at one time around
my ship than in the whole of six years which I have fished on the coast of
Brazil.'

This intelligence was no sooner communicated than all the whalers were
eager to push to sea. Melville himself was among the most early; and on the
10th of November, returned to Port Jackson, more confident of success than
before. He assured me that in the fourteen days which he had been out, he
had seen more spermaced whales than in all his former life. They amounted,
he said to many thousands, most of them of enormous magnitude; and had he
not met with bad weather he could have killed as many as he pleased. Seven
he did kill, but owing to the stormy agitated state of the water, he could
not get any of them aboard. In one however, which in a momentary interval
of calm, was killed and secured by a ship in company, he shared. The oil
and head matter of this fish, he extolled as of an extraordinary fine
quality. He was of opinion the former would fetch ten pounds per ton more
in London than that procured on the Brazil coast. He had not gone farther
south than 37 degrees; and described the latitude of 35 degrees to be the
place where the whales most abounded, just on the edge of soundings, which
here extends about fifteen leagues from the shore; though perhaps, on other
parts of the coast the bank will be found to run hardly so far off.

On the following day (November 11th) the 'Mary Anne', Captain Munro,
another of the whalers, returned into port, after having been out sixteen
days. She had gone as far south as 41 degrees but saw not a whale, and had
met with tremendously bad weather, in which she had shipped a sea that had
set her boiling coppers afloat and had nearly carried them overboard.

November 22d. The 'William and Anne', Captain Buncker, returned after
having been more than three weeks out, and putting into Broken Bay. This is
the ship that had killed the fish in which Melville shared. Buncker had met
with no farther success, owing, he said, entirely, to gales of wind; for
he had seen several immense shoals and wa