found that they had
got into a wrong one, and the _Unity_ ran aground by the stern, but the
wind blowing from off the land, she got clear again. Next morning, a
boat being sent ahead to sound the channel, which was found to be twelve
fathoms deep, they entered boldly, having a north-east wind to carry
them along. After they had sailed about three miles, however, the wind
began to veer, and they brought up in twenty fathoms, but the bottom
being composed of slippery stones, and the wind blowing hard from the
north-west, they dragged their anchors, and drifted down towards the
cliffs, where there appeared every probability that they both would be
lost. The _Unity_ lay with her side against the cliffs, though still
afloat, while the _Horn_ stuck so fast that, as the tide fell, she
remained high and dry. For some time a strong wind blowing from the
north-west kept her upright, but as it dropped she sank over, until her
bulwarks were under water. On seeing this, as it was impossible to
right her, the explorers gave up all hopes of saving her; but, the
weather remaining calm, the succeeding flood set her upright again, and
she and the _Unity_, hauling out of their dangerous position, stood
farther up the river.

Here they again dropped anchor off King's Island. On landing they found
it so thickly covered with the nests of penguins, each of which
contained three or four eggs--that a man might have taken fifty or sixty
without moving his position. They here also saw emus and deer with
extremely long necks. While wandering over the hills they came upon
several heaps of stones, beneath which they discovered bones, as they
supposed of persons ten and eleven feet along. Plenty of good fish and
fowls were obtained, but no water could be found for some days.

On the 17th of December they laid the _Unity_ ashore in order to clean
her bottom, and the following day the _Horn_ was hauled up for the same
purpose, at a distance of about two hundred yards from her consort. It
was providential that she was thus far. It being necessary to soften
the old pitch off her bottom, to which barnacles and mud were sticking,
they lighted a fire beneath her bottom. As they were in a hurry to
perform the operation, they threw on more sticks and reeds, scattering
the fire along her whole length. While they were working away with
their iron scrapers, suddenly they saw fire bursting out through her
ports. How this had happened they could not