18 
BANK OF SOFALA. 
races as perfectly distinct from either that of the Hottentot or of 
the Negro. 
From this place we sailed direct to Elephant Point, and thence, 
the wind being foul, polled with great difficulty through a heavy 
sea to the ship, which we did not reach till half past nine at 
night. During our absence, the Racehorse had moved her posi- 
tion, in doing which she had edged on another shoal in three 
and a half fathom. In the evening. Captain Fisher had a lunar 
observation, v/hich confirmed his reckoning, and proved that 
the bay we had visited was actually that of Sofala,. 
On the 20th of August, the weather being very unsettled and 
the wind hanging much to the eastward. Captain Fisher, 
unwilling to risk his ship on a shore where there were evidently 
many unknown shoals, determined at once to proceed to 
Mosambique. 
Before we could get into ten fathoms, we passed three more 
shoals, over which the sea was breaking, when the soundings 
became regular, and no farther danger appeared. The two fol- 
lowing days we continued running along the bank of Sofala in 
twelve fathoms. It appears evident, that this bank has been 
thrown up by the violence of the south-east winds, which 
generally prevail, blowing in direct opposition to the currents of 
many rapid rivers which here flow into the sea. The shoals 
appear by the old charts to have perceptibly increased, and it is 
probable, like the sands at the mouth of the Ganges which they 
much resemble, that they are liable to shift, so that too much 
caution cannot be used in sailing up the coast. No ship should 
venture into less thaiqi twelve fathoms, in which depth she may 
