Stptember ing from N. by E. 4 E. to E. by N. ; and Cape Coronation N.
J 32° 3°' Weft, diftant feventeen leagues. In the afternoon,
with a fané gale at Eaft, we fleered N. W. by W„ along the
outfide of the fhoals, with a view of falling in with the land
a little to S. W. of the Foreland. At two o’clock P. M., two
low iflots were feen bearing W. by S., and as they were con-
neéted by breakers, which feemed to- join thofe on our ftar-
board, this difcovery made it neceflary to haul o ff S. W., in
order to get clear of them all. At three, more breakers appeared,
extending from the low ifles towards the S. E. We
now hauled out clofe to the wind; and, in an hour and an
half, were almoft on board the breakers, and obliged to tack.
From the maft-head, they were feen to extend as far as E. S.
E., and the fmoothnefs of the fea made it probable that they
extended to the North of Eaft, and that we were in a manner
furrounded by them. At this time, the hill on the Ille of Pines
bore N. 714 Eaft, the Foreland N. 4 W, and the moft advanced
point of land on the S. W. coaft bore N. W., diftant fifteen or
fixteen leagues. This direction o f the S. W. coaft, which was
rather within the parallel of the N. E„ affuredtis that this land
extended no farther to the S. W. After making a fhort trip
to N. N.E., we flood again to the South, in expectation of
having a better view of the fhoals before fun-fet. We gained
nothing by this but the profped of a fea ftrewed with fhoals,
•which we could not clear but by returning in the track by
which we came. We tacked nearly in the fame place where
we had tacked before, and on founding found a bottom of
fine fand. But anchoring in a ftrong gale, with a chain of
breakers to leeward, being the laft refourçe, I rather chofe
to fpend the night in making fhort boards over that fpace
we had, in fome meafure, made ourfelves acquainted with in
the day. And thus it was fpent ; but under the terrible
apprehenfion,
apprehenfion, every moment, of falling on fome of the Sc‘t7U^cr
many dangers which furrounded us. 1----- —’
J Thurfday z g .
Day-light fhewed that our fears were not ill-founded, and
that we had been in the moft imminent danger; having had
breakers continually under our lee, and at a very little distance
from us. We owed our fafety to the interpofition of
Providence, a good look-out, and the very brifk manner in
which the fhip was managed; for, as we were ftanding to
the North, the people on the lee gangway and forecaftle
faw breakers under the lee-bow, which we efcaped by
quickly tacking the fhip.
I was now almoft tired of a coaft which I could no longer
explore, but at the rifque of lofing the fhip, and ruining the
whole voyage. I was, however, determined not to leave it,
till I,knew what trees thofe were which had been the fubjedf
of our fpeculation ; efpecially as they appeared to be of a
fort ufeful to fhipping, and had not been feen any where
but in the-fouthern part of this land. With this view, after
making atrip to the South, to weather the fhoals under our
lee, we flood to the North, in hopes of finding anchorage
under fome of the iflots on which thefe trees grew. We
were flopped by eight o’clock, by the fhoals which, lie extended
between the Ifle of Pines and Queen Charlotte’s Foreland;
and found foundings off them in fifty-five, forty, and
thirty-fix fathoms, a fine fandy bottom. The nearer we
came to thefe fhoals, the more we faw of them, and we were
not able to fay if there was any paffage between the two
lands.
Being now but a few miles to windward of the low ifles
lying off the Foreland, mentioned on the 25th and 26th, I
bore down to the one next to us. As we drew near it, I per-
V o l . II. T c e iv e d
I