leagues distant. We had
light winds during the night, and in the morning, the land was so
covered with clouds that we could not discover the extremity or
point of the Cape; we steered to the north-north-west, having
found, from the general bearings of the land, that we had been
set to the southward during the night: at noon it was clearer,
and the Cape bore north 14 deg. 00' east ten or eleven miles
distant. We had very light and baffling airs during the night of
the 21st, which made me apprehensive, from what Captain Carteret
has said of strong westerly currents here, that as we had now
opened St. George's Channel, we might be set past both Gower and
Carteret's harbours, before we could get as much wind as would
command the ship; for she was as dull and heavy sailing a vessel
as I ever was embarked in, and in my opinion was wholly unfit for
the service she was now employed in. When any other vessel would
be going three knots with a light wind, we could scarcely give
her steerage-way.

In the evening, finding, as I apprehended, the ship setting
fast to the westward, we hauled up to the eastward, in order to
keep as near the Cape as possible, until day-light. That night
also we had little wind, and that was variable; we kept her head
as much as possible to the eastward, and at eight in the morning
the Cape bore north 16 deg. 00' east, distant eleven or twelve
miles; which was much farther off than I wished; at the same
time, a projecting point on the coast of New-Britain bore west
north-west: we were becalmed most of this day, and were still
setting to the westward. In the afternoon of the 22d, a very
light breeze sprung up from the eastward, with which we
endeavoured to get within Wallis's island; we sounded frequently,
but had no ground with 130 fathoms of line: this situation was
truly distressing, for although we had every thing set, we could
not force the ship more than a knot and a half through the water,
and had the mortification to see that we were driving to the
westward: about two o'clock the breeze freshened up a little, and
although we were within three miles of anchorage in Gower's
harbour, we saw plainly we could not fetch it; however I had
hope, as Carteret's harbour is laid down in the chart four
leagues to leeward of it, that we might with ease get in there;
we had a boat in shore at this time sounding, and it was the
general opinion, that unless we bore away soon, we should not run
the distance bef