We had made this land in 4 months and 20 days. We saw a good deal of
rock-weed floating past our ship, and also a small Saturn-gull, and not
above 6 or 7 other gulls; the swell ran strongly from the south-west and
afterwards more from the south; along the land the sea was tolerably
smooth.
We adjusted our compasses at 4 deg. north-westerly variation. In the morning
of the same day about two hours after sunrise, when prayers were over, we
saw the south-land straight ahead to the great joy of all of us; it was
east of us, at about 3 or 5 miles' distance by estimation, when we got
sight of it; it was a low-lying coast extending mainly N.N.E. and S.S.W.
as given in the chart, so far as we could see. We immediately began to
sail close-hauled to port on a N.E. and N.E. by E. course, sometimes a
little higher and at other times a little lower, until three glasses in
the afternoon had run out, when we got a squall of rain with the wind
going over to W.N.W., upon which we ran north again, since at noon owing
to the nearly contrary wind we had gone over to W. in order to keep off
the land. We now shaped our course to north, at times to N. by W. nearly
as high as we could sail and the wind would allow us.
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