1-787. In the forenoon of the 1'ffi of Auguft, we had a 'heavy fwell
Au"^~, from the,Southward. At noon we faw Cape St. James, which
bore.South.5 deg. Eaft. Our latitude was „52 deg. to min. North ;
. the..neareft land three leagues .diftant. At eight in the evening,
, the extremes of the1 land bore from South 14 deg.. Weft, to .North
. J4 deg. Weft, two*leagues diftant.
"Towards the clofe of the day,, a canoe with fourteen people came
slong-fide, but they had fcarcely any thing to fell; they gave us to
underftand, that one o f .their companions was dead of the wounds
he received from our mufquets ; and at the fame time endeavoured
- to make us fenfible, that they were not at variance with us on that
. account: . indeed they came along-fide the veffel without the leaft
.-fear, and- it. is probable that the defign of their vifit .was to inform
ills of. the above circumftance.
During the night we had .conftant heavy rain, the weather thick
.and hazy.
In the morning of the 2d we had alight breeze from the Eaftward,
"the weather ftill thick and hazy. At noon, Cape St. James bore
South South Weft, about four leagues diftant. At five in the afternoon
the rocks off the Cape bore South 36 deg. Weft, two leagues
diftant; the weather was thick and hazy, the wind light and variable,
andYoon afterwards it fell calm, with a heavy fwell from the
South Eaft. Our fituation was now dangerous, for we had every
.reafon to think, that the veffel was drifting directly upon the rocks,
and the weather was fo very -hazy, that we could not difeern any
.objefit a cable’s length from the fhip. A little after nine o’clock
the fog rather difperfing, we faw the rocks off Cape St. James,
bearing South Weft, within lefs than a mile o f us.; on this, the
whalewhale
boat and jolly-boat were hoifted out, and fent a-head to tow
the veffel. Providentially about this time, the fwell abated, and u— j
the fea grew tolerably fmooth, fo that the boats were of great fer-
vice. At ten o’clock we had foundings with 100 fathom line,
over a rocky bottom: at eleven we ftruck bottom with eighty-five
fathom, and at twelve, with feventy-five fathom ; afterwards we
got no bottom with a line of 120 fathom, which gave us reafon to
hope that we were fafely paft the rocks
At one o’clock in the morning of the 3d, a light breeze fpring-
ing up at North Eaft, the boats were hoifted in, and all the people,
except the watch on deck, fent to their hammocks ; but at two
o'clock, we plainly heard the furf beat againft the rocks, on which,
the people were immediately turned up, the boats again hoifted
out, and fent to tow the veffel a-head; the weather was thick and
hazy, attended with conftant drizzling rain.
■ At four o’clock, a frefh breeze coming bn from the Southward,
the boats were again hoifted in. At five, we tacked and flood to
the South Weft. At feven, we faw the rocks bearing Weft North
Weft, about a mile diftant. The forenoon was thick and hazy;
but rather clearing at eleven o’clock, we faw the rocks bearing Weft
by South, five miles diftant. Our latitude at noon was 51 deg._
50 min. North. During the afternoon and evening, we had frefh.
breezes at South and South Weft, with hazy weather. At eight
o’clock, Cape St. James bore Weft Half South, diftant five leagues*
fo that we now. concluded ourfelves well clear of that once formidable
place.
As the iflarids we have juft left proved fo uncommonly fortunate
to us, a few remarks concerning them will, perhaps, not be un-
> accep