Series 03: Joseph Banks - Endeavour journal, 25 August 1768 - 12 July 1771 (vol. 2) - No. 0021
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[Page 21]
17.
Octr. 1769. in Search of the Southern Continent
for near an hour all that while as if in hot pursuit of some prey, leaping out of the water almost over each other; they might be very justly compard to a pack of hounds in full cry only their numbers which were some thousands made them a much more considerable object sometimes they formd a line near 1/4 of a mile in lengh sometimes contracted them selves into a much smaller compass keeping the water wherever they went in a foam so that when they were so far from the ship that their bodys could not be distinguishd any man would have taken them for breakers
6. This morn a Port Egmont hen & a seal were seen pretty early. at 1/2 past one a small boy who was at the mast head Calld out Land I was luckyly upon deck & well I was entertaind within a few minutes the cry circulated & up came all hands the land could not then be seen even from the tops yet few were there who did not plainly see it from the deck till it appeard that they had lookd at least 5 points wrong
Weather most moderate we came up with it very slowly at sun set myself was at the masthead land appeard much like an Island or Islands but seemd to be large. Just before a small shark was seen who had a very piked nose something like our dog fish in England