Apt*: in hi® .rGOro’ and' £ave $ & Kendal, one o f the mates of the
i— tj— j Dolphin, a commiflion.as Second Lieutenant o f the Tamar.
Toefdayjo. On the 30th, at feven o’clock in the morning, we weighed,
and fleered to the northward, along the eaft and north eaft
fide of the ifland, but could find no anchoring-place; we
bore away therefore, with a frefli gale at S. E. and hazey
weather, an A at noon, the middle o f the ifland wasdiftaht
eight leagues, in the direction o f S. S;. E. I continued to fleer"
Weifeff'.. N’ 3" W- next day, and; at noon on the 2d o f May, f changed
TharTday z. my courfe, and fleered W. intending, i f poffible, to make the
land, which is called Davis’s Land in the charts, and is laid
down in latitude 27° 30'S, and about five hundred leagued
Thurfday 9. weft o f Cbpiapo in C h ili; but on the- gth, finding iittl’e
profpea o f getting to the weftward, in the latitude which I
at firft propofed, being then in latitude 26° 46' S., longitude
94° 4/ W. and having a great run to make, I determined to
fleer a north weft courfe till I got the true trade-wind, and
then to ffand to the weftward till 1' fhould fa il in with Solo-
mon’s Iflands, i f any fuch there were, or make fome n ew
difeovery.
Fnday 10. On the 10 th, we few ieverar dolphins and bonettas. about:
Saturday n . the fhip, and the next day fome draggling birds, which,
were brown on the back and' the upper part o f their, wings,,
and white on the reft o f the. body, with a fhort heak, and. at
lhort pointed tail. The variation was now decreafefl to 4“'
45 E. our latitude was 24° jpl S. our longitude 97°-45 Wi
Tocfday 14. On the 14th, we few feveral grampufes, and more o f thc
birds which have juft been deferibed, fo that, imagining we-
might be near fome land; we kept a good look-out, but
few nothing. In latitude 230 2'S, longitude io.i °- 28'. W; the
variation, by azimuth, was 3° 20' E.,
On-
On the morning o f the 16th, \Ve few two very remarkable *765.
birds-; they flew very high, were as large as geefe, and all ■ May' _■
over as white as fnow, except their legs, which were black.- 'rllttrrd*y16-.
I now began to imagine that I had palled fome land, or
iflands, which lay to thefouthward o f us, for the laft night
we obferved, that, although we had generally a great fwell
from that quarter, the water became quite fmooth for a few
hours, after which the fwell returned.
On the 22ft, being in latitude 2c = 3f S., longitude i t t° Wednef.
38' W. with a faint breeze at E. S. E. we had fo great a fwell
from the fouthward, that we were in perpetual danger o f
our mails rolling over the fliip’s fide, fo that I was obliged
to haul moré to the northward, as well to eafe the fhip, as
in hopes o f getting the true trade-wind, which we had not
yet ; and now to my great concern fome of my beft men
began to complain of the feurvy. This day for the firft
time, we caught, two bonettas; we alfo few feveral tropic
birds about the fhip, and obferved that they were larger
than any we had feen before; their whole plumagê was
white, and they had two long feathers in the tail. Thé variation
now had changed its diredtion, and was 19' W.
On the 26th, we few two large birds about the fhip, Stmdly 2(S.
which were all black, except the neck and the beak, which
were white; they had long wings, and long feathers in
their tail, yet we obferved that they flew heavily, and therefore
imagined that they were o f a fpecics which did not
ufually fly far from the fhore. I had flattered myfelf, that,
before we had run fix degrees to the northward of Mafa-
fuero, we fhould have found a fettled trade-wind to the S. E.
but the winds ftill continued to the north, though we had a
mountainous fwell from the S. W. Our latitude was now
16° 55' S., longitude 127° $5 W. and here the needle, at this
time, had no variation,
N 2 On