1764. Novemb. fouth-east we were then steering S. W. and I fent officers to the mast-head to look out upon the weather beam, and they called out that they faw land also a Mond, 12. great way to the windward. I immediately brought to, and founded; we had ftill fifty-two fathom, but I thought that we were embayed, and rather wifhed than hoped that we fhould get clear before night. We made fail and fteered E. S. E. the land ftill having the fame appearance, and the hills looking blue, as they generally do at a little diftance in dark rainy weather; and now many of the people faid that they faw the fea break upon the fandy beaches; but having fteered out for about an hour, what we had taken for land, vanished all at once, and to our great aftonishment appeared to have been a fog-bank. Though I had been almost continually at fea for feven-and-twenty years, I had never seen such a deception before; others however have been equally deceived; for the master of a ship, not long fince, made oath, that he had feen an island between the west end of Ireland and Newfoundland, and even diftinguished the trees that grew upon it. Yet it is certain that no fuch ifland exifts, at leaft it could never be found, though feveral fhips were afterwards fent out on purpose to feek it. And I am sure, that if the weather had not cleared up foon enough for us to fee what we had taken for land disappear, every man on board would freely have made oath, that land had been discovered in this fituation. Our latitude this day was 43° 46' S. longitude 600 5' W. and the variation 19o 30'E. The next day, at four o'clock in the afternoon, the Tuef. 13, weather being extremely fine, the wind shifted at once to the S. W. and began to blow fresh, the sky at the fame time becoming black to windward: in a few minutes all the people that were upon the deck were alarmed with a fudden and unufual noife, like the breaking of the fea upon the fhore. I ordered the topfails to be handed immediately; but before it could be done, I saw the sea approaching at some distance, in vaft billows covered with foam; I called to the people to haul up the forefail, and let go the main sheet inftantly; for I was perfuaded that if we had any fail out when the guft reached us, we should either be over fet, 1764. Novemb. fet, or lose all our mafts. It reached us however before we could raise the main tack, and laid us upon our beam ends: the main tack was then cut, for it was become impoffible to caft it off; and the main sheet ftruck down the first Lieutenant, bruifed him dreadfully, and beat out three of his teeth: the main topfail, which was not quite handed, was fplit to pieces. If this fquall, which came on with lefs warning and more violence than any I had ever feen, had taken us in the night, I think the fhip must have been loft. When it came on we obferved feveral hundreds of birds flying before it, which expreffed their terror by loud fhrieks; it lasted about twenty minutes, and then gradually subsided. The Tamar split her main-fail, but as he was to leeward of us, fhe had more time to prepare. In a fhort time it began to blow very hard again, so that we reefed our main-fail, and lay to unWedn. 14. der it all night. As morning approached, the gale became more moderate, but we had still a great fea, and the wind shifting to S. by W. we stood to the weft ward under our courses. Soon after it was light, the sea appeared as red as blood, being covered with a small fhell-fifh of that colour, fomewhat refembling our cray-fish, but lefs, of which we took up great quantities in bafkets. Thurf. 15. At half an hour past four in the morning of Thurfday the 15th of November, we faw land, which had the appearance of an ifland about eight or nine leagues long, there being no land in fight either to the north. ward or fouthward, though by the charts it should be Cape Saint Helena, which projects from the coaft to a confiderable distance, and forms two bays, one to the north, and the other to the fouth. As the weather was very fine, I tacked and stood in for it about ten o'clock; but as there were many funken rocks at about two leagues distance from it, upon which the fea broke very high, and the wind feemed to be gradually dying away, I tacked again and stood off. The land appeared to be barren and rocky, without either tree or bush: when I was nearest to it I founded and had forty-five fathom, with black muddy ground. To my great misfortune, my three Lieutenants and the Mafter were at this time fo ill as to be incapable of duty, though Novemb. though the rest of the fhip's company were in good 1764. The next day I shaped my courfe by the chart in Frid. 16. the 1764. Novemb. Tues. 20. the fouthward of the Cape, as he directs, but could find no fuch place; I therefore ftood along the fhore to the fouthward, the wind blowing off the land very hard, and faw feveral large columns of fmoke rising in many places, but no tree or bush, the country refembling in appearance the barren downs of England. We obferved alfo that the water was frequently very fhallow at the distance of feven or eight miles from the shore, for we had many times not more than ten fathom. We continued to stand along the shore all day as near as poffible, and in the evening we faw an Island at the distance of about fix leagues; in the morning we stood in for it, and found that it correfponded with Narborough's defcription of Penguin Ifland. As Port Defire is faid to lie about three leagues north west of this Ifland, I fent the boat to look for it, and when fhe returned, having found it, I ftood in for the land. There were thousands of feals and penguins about the fhip, and near Penguin ifland feveral fmaller iflands, or rather rocks. In the evening, we faw a remarkable rock, rifing from the water like a steeple, on the south fide of the entrance of Port Defire; this rock is an excellent mark to know the harbour, which it would otherwise be difficult to find. At night, there being little wind, we anchored at the distance of four or five Wed. 21 miles from the fhore; and in the morning, with a breeze from the land, we turned up the harbour's to to found the harbour, and attended in my own boat The Tamar worked into the harbour with the tide of flood, but I kept my station with the Dolphin till I fhould have a leading wind; and the wind fhifting to the eastward, I weighed about five o'clock in the afternoon, intending to go up with the evening flood: before I could get under fail, however, the wind fhifted again to N. W. by N. and it being low water, the fhip lying but just within the harbour, and there being no tide to affift us, we were obliged to anchor near the fouth fhore. 'The wind came off the land in very hard flaws, and in a fhort time, our anchor coming home, the |