The shoal these whales were upon had depth of water sufficient, no less
than 20 fathom, as I said; and it lies in latitude 22 degrees 22 minutes.
The shore was generally bold all along; we had met with no shoal at sea
since the Abrolho Shoal, when we first fell on the New Holland coast in
the latitude of 28, till yesterday in the afternoon, and this night. This
morning also when we expected by the chart we had with us to have been 11
leagues offshore we were but 4; so that either our charts were faulty,
which yet hitherto and afterwards we found true enough as to the lying of
the coast, or else here was a tide unknown to us that deceived us; though
we had found very little of any tide on this coast hitherto. As to our
winds in the coasting thus far, as we had been within the verge of the
general trade (though interrupted by the storm I mentioned) from the
latitude of 28, when we first fell in with the coast: and by that time we
were in the latitude of 25 we had usually the regular tradewind (which is
here south-south-east) when we were at any distance from shore: but we
had often sea and land-breezes, especially when near shore, and when in
Shark's Bay; and had a particular north-west wind, or storm, that set us
in thither.
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