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[Page 4]
so, I will give it candidly: I think that from the 1st Septr: to the last of May there is moderate Weather on this Coast with only fresh Blows now & then and during that time I think there is a great deal of Oil to be got, if not a full Cargo with persevering, which if that is not us'd a Man has no Business on this Coast, or indeed on any other, the other 3 Months, which is the breaking up of the Winter & on all Coasts in the same Latitudes the Weather is bad, but on this Coast worse than any other, for there is such a Sea in those Months & it always keeps up; although you may have little Wind still the Sea never gets down: from the middle of June to the middle of August I do not think there were 10 days that I could with safety lower a Boat in the Water; in those Months there is little chance of a Ship doing anything & she had need be a good Ship to stay out in the Winter.
But that there is a Fishery on this Coast I have no doubt from what I have seen and mean to prove it if possible by Example & to persevere 'till the last of next May, when I think of going off the Coast whether I am full or not: in my Passage to Norfolk Island I fell in with Sir Chas. Middletons Shoal and can ascertain its Situation nearby: its Latitude as I saw it off the Deck one Hour before Noon is 29º 2-8 m & its Longitude as while in sight of the Shoal by the Means of 2 Distances O & D by two Instruments & both work'd by myself is 158..11..30 East and I have no doubt but the Island is to the Northward