1770. ROUND THE WORLD. 36.9 



it, we kept on our course till eleven o'clock, when 

 we were not more than three leagues from it, and 

 then discovered that it was neither inlet nor bay, but a 

 tract of low land, bounded by higher lands on each 

 side, which produced the deception. At this time, we 

 tacked and stood to the N. W. ; and at noon, the land 

 was not distant more than three or four leagues. We 

 were now in latitude 36^ 31' S., longitude i85°50' W. 

 Cape Maria bore N. 25 W. distant forty-four leagues 

 and a half; so that the coast must be almost straight in 

 the direction of S. S. E.f E. and N. N. W. l W. nearly. 

 In about latitude 35° 4^5' is some high land adjoining 

 to the sea ; to the southward of which the shore is 

 also high, and has the most desolate and inhospitable 

 appearance that can be imagined. Nothing is to be 

 seen but hills of sand, on which there is scarcely a 

 blade of verdure ; and a vast sea, impelled by the 

 westerly winds breaking upon it in a dreadful surf, 

 renders it not only forlorn, but frightful ; compli- 

 cating the idea of danger with desolation, and im- 

 pressing the mind at once Avith a sense of misery and 

 death. From this place I steered to the northward, 

 resolving never more to come within the same dis- 

 tance of the coast, except the wind should be very 

 favourable indeed. I stood under a fresh sail all the 

 day, hoping to get an offing by the next noon, and 

 we made good a course of a hundred and two miles 

 N. 38 W. Our latitude by observation w^as 35° 10' S. ; 

 and Cape Maria bore N. 10 E., distance forty-one 

 miles. In the night, the wind shifted from S. W. by 

 S. to S., and blew fresh. Our course to the noon of 

 the 5th, was N. 75 W., distance eight miles. 



At day-break on the 6th, we saw the land, which 

 we took to be Cape Maria, bearing N. N. E., distant 

 eight, or nine leagues: and on the 7th, in the after- 

 noon, the land bore east : and some time after, we 

 discovered a turtle upon the water ; but being awake, 

 it dived instantly, so that we could not take it. At 

 noon, the high land, which has just been mentioned, 



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