3 
striking; and. as she struck repeatedly, hut little of this keel could he 
left; yet, for the last twenty-four hours, the water in her hold had not 
exceeded twelve inches. 
At seven in the evening, having reached a depth of eight fathoms, we 
cast anchor. When the depth of the water, which, during the period of our 
difficulty, had been from three to six fathoms, is considered, it might he 
supposed, that we could have warped off much sooner; hut it must he 
remembered, that the coral bottom, by continually cutting our cables, 
stopped the progress of our work: and that we had another obstruction, in 
the excessive heat of the weather. As I felt myself indisposed from fatigue, 
1 did not, as had been my intention, go on shore this evening, but sent some 
of my officers, who, after an absence of two hours, returned, bringing with 
them four large seals, which they had killed on the beach with handspikes. 
l8th On the l8th, the wind continuing perfectly calm, and the weather 
fine, we again warped with all possible expedition further northward. 
Desirous of examining the place, which, by its situation, appeared to be of 
great importance to navigation, I went on shore in the morning with several 
of my officers, leaving orders on board for the ship to go out to sea, should 
a fair wind spring up; and, after clearing every danger, to wait for us. 
The surf was so great, that we could with difficulty land at a small bay, 
where we found numerous birds of different kinds, and seals of an enormous 
size. On landing, we were much annoyed by the birds, many of which made 
their attack flying, while others ran after us, pecking at our legs; it 
was with difficulty we could keep them off, even with our canes. 
The seals lay on their backs along the beach, motionless. Some 
measured in length more than seven feet; they scarcely stirred at our 
approach, or even deigned to open their eyes. Though, at another time, 
the sight of these animals would have been extremely gratifying; yet, as 
