of 34 deg. S., longitude 208 deg. 37' W. It is
capacious, safe, and convenient, and maybe known by the land on the
sea-coast, which is nearly level, and of a moderate height; in general
higher than it is farther inland, with steep rocky cliffs next the sea,
which have the appearance of a long island lying close under the shore.
The harbour lies about the middle of this land, and in approaching it
from the southward, is discovered before the ship comes abreast of it;
but from, the northward it is not discovered so soon: The entrance is a
little more than a quarter of a mile broad, and lies in W.N.W. To sail
into it the southern shore should be kept on board, till the ship is
within a small bare island, which lies close under the north shore;
within this island the deepest water on that side is seven fathom,
shallowing to five a good way up. At a considerable distance from the
south shore there is a shoal, reaching from the innersouth point quite
to the head of the harbour; But over towards the north and north-west
shore there is a channel of twelve or fourteen feet at low water, for
three or four leagues, up to a place where there is three or four
fathom, but here I found very little fresh water. We anchored near the
south shore, about a mile within the entrance, for the convenience of
sailing with a southerly wind, and because I thought it the best
situation for watering; but I afterwards found a very fine stream on the
north shore, in the first sandy cove within the island, before which a
ship might lie almost land-locked, and procure wood as well as water in
great abundance. Wood indeed is every where plenty, but I saw only two
kinds which may be considered as timber. These trees are as large, or
larger than the English oak, and one of them has not a very different
appearance: This is the same that yields the reddish gum like _sanguis
draconis_, and the wood is heavy, hard, and dark-coloured, like _lignum
vitae_; the other grows tall and straight, something like the pine; and
the wood of this, which has some resemblance to the live oak of America,
is also hard and heavy. There are a few shrubs, and several kinds of the
palm; mangroves also grow in great plenty near the head of the bay. The
country in general is level, low, and woody, as far as we could see. The
woods, as I have before observed, abound with birds of exquisite beauty,
particularly of the parrot kind; we found also crows here, exactly the
same with those