.178 
SURVEY OP THE INTERTROPICAL 
between thirty-three and thirty -five fathoms. At 
daylight the next morning, the land bore from 
East to E.S.E., but the morning and forenoon 
were so hazy, that it was very indistinctly 
seen; at noon a partial clearing away of the 
haze exposed to our view a long range of high 
and precipitous cliffs, the base of which was 
washed by the sea, breaking upon it with a 
tremendous roar, and heard distinctly by us. 
The wind falling in the afternoon induced me 
to stand off shore, when we soon lost sight of 
the land. At noon we were in latitude 27° 
5 ' 18". At one o’clock the depth was forty-five 
fathoms fine gray sand. No land was seen 
during the rest of the day ; for although the sky . 
was beautifully clear and serene, the atmosphere, 
for fifteen degrees above the horizon, was enve- 
loped in a thick hazy mist, that caused an ex- 
traordinary dampness in the air, and from the 
unfavourable state of the weather we did not at- 
tempt to make it again. 
The next morning we saw that part of Dirk 
Hartog’s Island, which lies in latitude 25° 56', 
and when we had reached within four miles of 
the shore steered to the northward parallel 
to the beach, but the haze was still so great 
as to render the land very indistinct. We saw 
enough of it, however, to be convinced of its 
