26th to 28th September 1770

[From Savu to Sunda Strait]

26th.  Winds and weather as yesterday. At Noon Latitude in 11 degrees 10 minutes, Longitude 245 degrees 41" West.

27th.  Winds at South-South-East; a fresh breeze. In the evening found the variation to be 3 degrees 10 minutes West. At noon we were in the Longitude of 247 degrees 42 minutes West, and Latitude 10 degrees 47 minutes, which is 25 Miles to the Northward of the Log, which I know not how to account for.

28th.  Winds at South-South-East and South-East; a fresh breeze and Cloudy, with some Showers of rain. At Noon Latitude observed 10 degrees 51 minutes South, which is agreeable to the Logg, Longitude in 250 degrees 9 minutes, West.

Joseph Banks Journal

26th.  Trade rather slacker than it had been. Eat today a buttock of Buffaloe which had been 3 days in salt: it eat so well and had so thouroughly taken salt that it was resolvd to Salt meat for the ships company when our biggest Buffaloes who would weigh above 300 lb were killd.

27th.  Trade fresher and more to the S. Men of War birds, Gannets and Black Shearwaters in abundance.

28th.  Squally in the night with rain and fine fresh trade shov'd us on Merrily. Our beef experiment was this day tried and succeeded but scurvily. The meat which had been killd on the 26th was not salted till Cold: it hardly stunk: the outside which had been in absolute contact with the salt was quite good but under that which formd a crust of various thickness the meat was in a wonderfull manner corrupted; it lookd well but every fibre was destroyd and disolv'd so that the whole was a paste of the consistence of soft putty yet this hard[l]y stunk. Some Gannets and Man of War birds were about the Ship.