Page:Narrative of a survey of the intertropical and western coasts of Australia, Volume 1.djvu/512

 448 .SURVEY Oi THE INTERTROPICAL sso. south head of Port Jackson; but, from an un- I).a 'usual westerly current, we found ourselves, ver nearly to our destruction, considerably out of 4. our reckoning. At 2h. 40m. a.m., by the glare of a flash of lightning, the land was suddenly discovered close under our lee: we hauled to the wind immediately, but the breeze at the same moment fell, and the swell being heavy, the cutter made but little progress. Sail was made as quickly as possible, and as the cutter headed N.N.E., there was every likelihood of her clearing the land; but a quarter of aa hour afterwards, by the light of another flash, it was again seen close to us, stretching from right a-head to our lee-quarter, and' so near, that the breakers were distinctly seen glemi*g through the darkness of the night. A third flash of lightning confirmed our fears as to the dan- gerous situation we were in; and' as there was not room to veer, the helm was immediately put a-lee; but, as was feared, the cutter refused stays. We were now obliged to veer as a last resource, and the sails being manceuvred, so as to perform this operation as quickly as possible, we fortunately succeeded in the attempt, and the cutter's head was brought to the wind upon the other tack without her striking the rocks: we were now obliged to steer as close to the wind

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