152 dampiek's voyages.
or four rocky islands about a league from us, between us and the bluff point; and we saw many other islands both to the east and west of it, as far as we could see either way from our topmast-head : and all within them to the S. there was nothing but islands of a pretty heighth, that may be seen eight or nine leagues off. By what we saw of them they must have been a range of islands of about twenty leagues in length, stretching from E. N. E. to W. S. W. and for ought I know, as far as to those of Shark's Bay ; and to a considerable breadth also (for we could see nine or ten leagues in among them) towards the continent or main land of New Holland, if there be any such thing hereabouts : and by the great tides I met with a while afterwards, more to the N. east ; I had a strong suspicion that here might be a kind of archipelago of islands, and a passage possibly to the S. of New Holland and New Guinea into the great S. sea eastward; which I had thoughts also of attempting in my return from new Guinea (had circumstances permitted), and told my officers so : but I could not attempt it at this time, because we wanted water, and could not depend upon finding it there. This place is in the latitude of 20° 21', but in the draught that I had of this coast, which was Tasman's,itwaslaid down in 19° 50', and the shore is laid down as all along joining in one body or continent, with some openings appearing like rivers ; and not like islands, as really they are. See several sights of it. This place lies more northerly by 40' than is laid down in Mr. Tasman's draught : and beside its being made a firm continued land, only with some openings like the mouths of rivers, I found the soundings also different from what the prick'd line of this course shows them, and generally shallower than he makes them ; which inclines me to think that he came not so near the shore as his line shews, and so had deeper soundings, and could not so well distin- guish the islands. His meridian or difference of longitude from Shark's Bay agrees well enough with my account.
