56 
W. B. ALEXANDER, M.A. : 
He was put in command of H.M.S. Roebuck , an ancient and 
almost rotten ship, and left England in January, 1698-9. Having 
called at the Canary and Cape Verde Islands, and in Brazil, they 
sailed for New Holland. 
1 quote fully all the portions of his journal which relate to 
the animals he saw on our coast. 
“ As we drew nigher the Coast of New Holland, we saw 
frequently 3 or 4 Whales together. When we were about 90 
Leagues from the Land we began to sea Sea-weeds, all of one 
Sort ; and as we drew nigher the Shore we saw them more fre- 
quently. At about 30 Leagues distance we began to see some 
Scuttle-bones floating on the Water ; and drawing still nigher 
the Land we saw' greater Quantities of them. 
“ July 25 (1699) being in Lat. 26 deg. 14 min . S.and Longitude 
E. from the C, of Good Hope 85 deg. 52 min., we saw a large 
Gar-fish leap 4 times by us, which seemed to be as big as a Por- 
poise. It was now very fair Weather, and the Sea was full of 
a sort of very small Grass or Moss, which as it floated in the 
Water seem’d to have been some spawn of Fish ; and there was 
among it some small Fry, The next Day the Sea was full of 
small round Things like Pearl, some as big as white Peas ; they 
were very clear and transparent, and upon crushing anv of them 
a Drop of Water would come forth : The Skin that contained the 
Water was so thin that it was but just discernable. Some Weeds 
swam by us, so that we did not doubt but we should quickly see 
Land. On the 27th also, some Weeds swam by us, and the 
Birds that had flown along with us all the way almost from 
Brazil, now left us, except only 2 or 3 Shear-waters. On the 
28th we saw many Weeds swim by us, and some Whales, blowing. 
On the 29th we saw ... a Scuttle-bone swim by us, and some of 
our young Men a Seal, as it should seem by their Description of 
its Head. I saw also some Boneta’s, and some Skipjacks, a Fish 
about 8 Inches long, broad and sizeable, not much unlike a 
Roach ; which our Seamen call so from their leaping about. 
“ The 30th of July, being still nearer the Land, we saw 
Abundance of Scuttle-bones and Sea-weed, more Tokens that 
we were not far from it ; and saw also a Sort of Fowls, the like 
of which we had not seen in the whole Voyage, all the other Fowls 
having now left us. These were as big as Lapwings ; of a grey 
colour, black about their eyes, with red sharp Bills, long Wings, 
their Tails long and forked like Swallows ; and they flew flapping 
their Wings like Lapwings. The Birds were further Signs of 
Land." During the night soundings showed that they were 
approaching the Abrolhos shoals, so they stood to the northward, 
and on the following day they sighted land. " August the first, 
as we were standing in wc saw several large sea-fowls, like our 
Gannets on the Coast of England, flying 3 or 4 together ; and a 
