l/?6. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 375 



on, when we should be obliged to anchor, and by that 

 means lose the advantage of a fair wind. These 

 reasons induced me to stretch out to sea ; aud we 

 passed two or three rocky islets that lie near the east 

 end of Trinity Island. At four in the afternoon, 

 having weathered the island, we tacked, and steered 

 west, southerly, with a fresh gale at south south-east ; 

 which, before midnight, veered to the south-east ; and 

 was, as usual, attended with misty, drizzling, rainy 

 weather. 



By the course we steered all night, I was in 

 hopes of falling in with the continent in the morn- 

 ing. And, doubtless, we should have seen it, had 

 the weather been in the least clear ; but the fog 

 prevented. Seeing no land at noon, and the gale 

 increasing, with a thick fog and rain, I steered west 

 north-west, under such sail as we could easily haul 

 the wind with ; being fully sensible of the danger of 

 running before a strong gale in a thick fog, in the 

 vicinity of an unknown coast. It was, however, 

 necessary to run some risk when the wind favoured 

 us ; for clear weather, we had found, was generally 

 accompanied with winds from the west. 



Between two and three in the afternoon, land was 

 seen through the fog, bearing north-west, not more 

 than three or four miles distant. Upon this we im- 

 mediately hauled up south, close to the wind. Soon 

 after the two courses were split, so that we had others 

 to bring to the yards ; and several others of our sails 

 received considerable damage. At nine the gale 

 abated ; the weather cleared up ; and we got sight 

 of the coast again, extending from west by south 

 to north-west, about four or five leagues distant. On 

 sounding, we found a hundred fathoms water, over 

 a muddy bottom. Soon after, the fog returned, and 

 we saw no more of the land all night. 



At four next morning, the fog being now dispersed, 

 we found ourselves in a manner surrounded by land ; 

 the continent, or what was supposed to be the conti- 



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