10

1798             round them at two o'clock, and saw high land extending from the larger
February       island to south-by-east-quarter-east, which afterwards proved to be Cape
Friday 9         Barren. At this time the weather becoming thick, and the wind having shifted to the South in squalls, we lost sight of the land; but at sunset, got a transient view of the island at west-south-west, three or four leagues distant. At daylight Saturday 10 we steered to the southward for Cape Barren; and at noon the observed latitude was 40° 3' 20" south; and two sets of lunars by the sun east of the moon, taken at one o'clock, gave the longitude at this time 148° 1' east, which was only 9' west of those taken on the 7^th brought forward by log without any correction; so that though the tides may run strong amongst these islands, and we saw evidently that they did so, yet the flood and ebb must be nearly of equal strength and countenance. Neither have we found any material difference of latitude since the 5^th , 9' having been the greatest in any one day, which it is not necessary to have recourse to a current to account for. Our bearings at noon were, – the pyramid island west-quarter-north three or four leagues, – Cape Barren south-by-west-quarter-west – an island with a sloping round hill upon it, south-west-three-quarters-south.
    Standing on with a moderate northerly breeze and fine weather we found that Cape Barren was divided from the large