COASTS OF AUSTRALIA. 
109 
vited a particular investigation, on account of the i82i. 
exposed nature of the coast, and the strength of Au^. 26. 
the tides, v^hich were now near the' springs: 
upon every consideration, therefore, it was not 
deemed prudent to rely any longer upon the 
good fortune that had hitherto so often attended 
us in our difficulties. Accordingly after weigh- sr. 
ing, we steered off by the wind, and directed our 
course for Mauritius. 
On the 22 d September at daylight, after a Sept.22. 
passage of twenty-five days, we saw Roderigues, 
five or six leagues to the northward. In the 
evening, a fresh gale sprung up from the south- 
ward, and we experienced very bad weather: 
at noon of the 24 th, by our calculation, we were 24. 
seventy-three miles due East from the north end 
of Mauritius, and, having the day before expe- 
rienced a westerly current of one mile per hour, 
we brought to at sunset for the night, from the 
fear of getting too near the shore. 
At daylight the following morning, being by 25. 
the reckoning only thirty-four miles to the east- 
ward of the north-end of the island, we bore up 
for it ; but the land, being enveloped in clouds, 
was not seen until noon ; we then found ourselves 
off the south-east end, instead of the north point ; 
having been set to the southward since yester- 
day noon at the rate of three-quarters of a mile 
