eered to make Termination Island, which is the outermost part; at four
in the morning of the 17th [TUESDAY 17 MAY 1803], it was seen about two
leagues to the N. E, and we had 62 fathoms on a bottom of white sand.
Mondrain Island was set at daylight, and the positions of many other
places were either verified or corrected, during the run to noon; at that
time we had 45 fathoms, and a reef was seen which may probably be that
marked _Vigie_, in the French chart, and is the more dangerous from the
sea breaking upon it only at times. No observation was obtained for the
latitude, but it should be 34 deg. 13' south, from the following bearings
then taken.

Western Twin, N. 5 deg. W.
A nearer isle, surrounded with breakers, N. 3 E.
Cape Arid, top of the mount on it, N. 53 E.
Middle I., highest top of the mount, N. 661/2 E.
Douglas's Isles, two appearing in one, N. 80 E.
High breakers, distant 6 miles, S. 42 E.

At one o'clock in steering for Douglas's Isles, a single breaker was seen
right ahead of the ship, lying six miles N. E. 1/2 N. of the former
dangerous reef, and about eight from the isles, in a W. by 1/2 S.
direction. We passed to the northward of it, having no ground at 25
fathoms; and as we approached to do the same by the isles, Mr. Charles
Douglas, the boatswain, breathed his last; and I affixed his name to the
two lumps of land, which seemed to offer themselves as a monument to his
memory. We hauled up close along the east side of Middle Island with the
wind at west; and at six in the evening anchored in Goose-Island Bay, in
12 fathoms, fine sand, one-third of a mile from the middle rock. and
nearly in a line between it and the north-east point of Middle Island.

WEDNESDAY 18 MAY 1803

In the morning, a party of men was sent to kill geese and seals upon the
rocky islets to the eastward, and another upon Middle Island to cut wood
and brooms. There was now so much more surf upon the shores of the bay
than in January of the former year, that we could not land at the eastern
beach, behind which lies the salt lake; I therefore went with the master
to the middle beach, and being scarcely able to get out of the boat from
scorbutic sores, sent him to examine the lake and make choice of a
convenient place for filling some casks; but to my surprise he reported
that no good salt could be procured, although it had been so abundant
before, that according to the