f our weathering
the land. We stood on to the eastward, and the ship, to my
astonishment, as well as to that of every person on board, bore
such a press of sail wonderfully. We had, about midnight, run
back the distance made from the first land we saw to the second,
and perceived, through the haze, the looming of that land under
our lee, nearly on the beam; this advantage we had gained by the
shifting of the wind two points. We now stood on, and I had hopes
that this might be the most projecting land; but at two in the
afternoon, as I was looking from the quarter deck very anxiously
to leeward, I observed the looming of a high and very steep point
of rocky land, and the sea foaming with frightful violence
against it. I made no mention of it; but just at that instant it
was discovered by the sailors stationed forward, and they called
out, "Land, close under our lee;" I replied it was very well, I
had seen it some time, and that as it was now upon our beam
(which it really was, for I discovered it through the main
shrouds) there could be no danger from it, we should soon pass
it: if this land had been seen a little sooner, the fear of not
being able to weather it might have occasioned our wearing, which
would have been unfortunate, as the weather just cleared up at a
time when we could see that no danger was to be apprehended from
it.

The ship was at this time half buried in the sea by the press
of sail, since she was going through it (for she could not be
said to be going over it) at the rate of four knots.

We soon shot past this head, and from the course we had made,
I was convinced it was Tasman's Head, which is the eastern point
of a bay, of which the south cape is the western, and was called
by Tasman, _Storm-Bay_. The first land we had seen was
within the bay, on the east shore, not so far out as Tasman's
Head; and the western land, under which we wore at half past six,
was the south cape.

After passing Tasman's Head, we kept our wind still, and
carried sail, in order, if possible, to weather Maria's Islands,
which lay about six leagues to the north-east, for we had no
sooner got round the last head, than the wind headed us, and we
fell off from east by south to east by north; had this change
taken place a little sooner, it must have proved fatal to us.

At eight the next morning, we passed to the windward of
Maria's Islands, which, from the haziness of the weather, we did
not see until they were upon the