m * ward and eaftward are feveral other iflands and fhoals; fo
Sunday tllat we were now er>compaffed on every fide: but having
lately been expofed to much greater danger, and rocks and
Ihoals being grown familiar, we looked at them comparatively
with little concern. The main land appeared to be
low and barren, interfperfed with large patches of the very
fine white land, which we had found upon Lizard Ifland and
different parts of the main. The boats had feen many turtle
upon the fhoals which they paired, but it blew too hard for
them to take any. At noon, our latitude by obfervation was
is , and our longitude 217° 25 : our depth of water was
fourteen fathom ; and our courfe and diftance, reduced to a
ftrait line, was, between this time and the preceding noon
N. 29 W. thirty two miles.
The main land within the iflands that have been juft men
tioned forms a point, which I called C a p e G r e n v i l l e : it
lies in latitude n ° 58, longitude 217° 38’ ; and between it
and Bolt Head is a bay, which I called T e m p l e B a y . At the
diftance of nine leagues from Cape Grenville, in the direction
of E. 4. N. lie fome high iflands, which I called S i r
C h a r l e s H a r d y ’s I s l e s ; and thofe which lie off the Cape I
called C o c k b u r n ’ s I s l e s . Having lain by for the boats,
which had got out of their ftation, till about one o’clock, we
then took the yawl in tow; and the pinnace having got
ahead, we filled, and flood N. by W. for fome fmall iflands
which lay in that direction; fuch at leaft they were in appearance,
but upon approaching them we perceived that they.
I were joined together by a large reef: upon this we edged
away N. W. and left them on our ftarboard hand ; we fleered
between them and the iflands that lay off the main, having
a clear paffage, and from fifteen to twenty-three fathom
water. At four o’clock, we difcovered fome low iflands and,
rocks,
rocks, bearing W.N.W. and flood diredtly for them : at half 1770.
an hour after fix, we anchored on the north eaft fide of the , Augult‘ _
northermoft of them, at one mile diftance, and in fixteen s“"jSv '9)
fathom. Thefe iflands lie N. W. four leagues from Cape
Grenville, and’ from the number of birds that I faw upon
them, I called them B i r d I s l e s . A little before fun-fet, we
were in fight of the main land, which appeared all very low
and fandy, extending as far to the northward as N.W. by N.
fome fhoals, quays, and low Tandy ifles- ftretching away to
the N. E.
At fix o’clock in the morning, we got again under fail, Monday ^«,
with a frefh breeze at E. and flood away N. N.W. for fome
low iflands in that direction, but were foon obliged to haul
clofe upon a wind to weather a fhoal which we difcovered
upon our larboard bow, having at the fame time others to the
eaftward: by the time we had weathered this fhoal to leeward,
we had' brought the iflands well upon our lee bow»-
but feeing fome fhoals run off from them, and fome rocks
on our ftarboard bow, which we did not difcover till we:
were very near them, I was afraid to go to windward of the:
iflands, and therefore brought to, and having made the fig-
nal for the pinnace,, which was ahead, to come on board, I
lent her to leeward of the iflands, with orders to keep along
the edge of the fhoal, which ran off from the fouth fide of
the fouthermoft' iflandj fending the yawl at the fame time, to*
run over the fhoal in fearch of turtle. As foon as the pinnace
had got to a proper diftance, we wore, and flood after
her: as we ran to leeward of this land, we took the yawl in:
tow, fhe having feen only one fmall turtle, and therefore
made but little flay upon the fhoal. The ifland we found to *
be a fmall fpot of fand, with fome trees upon-it, and we-
could difcern many huts, or habitations of the natives*
whom, we fuppofed occafionahy to vifit thefe iflands from
1, the;