Page:Early voyages to Terra Australis.djvu/296

 140 dampier's voyages.

white shells. I presently clapt on a wind and stood to the south, and the wind at W., because I thought we were to the south of a shoal call'd the Abrohles (an appellative name for shoals, as it seems to me), which in a draught I had of that coast is laid down in 27 degrees, 28 minutes latitude, stretching about seven leagues into the sea. I was the day before in 27 degrees, 38 minutes by reckoning. And afterwards steering E. by S. purposely to avoid it, I thought I must have been to the south of it : but sounding again at one a clock in the morning, August the 1st, we had but twenty-five fathom, coral rocks ; and so found the shoal was to the south of us. We presently tack'd again, and stood to the north, and then soon deepned our water ; for at two in the morning we had twenty-six fathom, coral still : at three, we had twenty-eight, coral ground : at four, we had thirty fathom, coarse sand, with some coral : at five, we had forty -five fathom, coarse sand and shells ; being now off the shoal, as appear'd by the sand and shells, and by having left the coral. By all this I knew we had fallen into the north of the shoal, and that it was laid down wrong in my sea-chart : for I found it lye in about 27 degrees latitude, and by our run in the next day I found that the outward edge of it, which I sounded on, lies sixteen leagues off shore. "When it was day Ave steered in E.N.E. with a fine brisk gale, but did not see the land till nine in the morning, when we saw it from our topmast head, and were distant from it about ten leagues, having then forty fathom water and clear sand. About three hours after we saw it on our quarter-deck, being by judgment about six leagues off, and we had then forty fathom, clean sand. As we ran in, this day and the next, we took several sights of it, at different bear- ings and distances. This morning, August the 1st, as we were standing in we saw several large sea fowls, like our gannets on the coast of England, flying three or four toge- ther ; and a sort of white sea-mews, but black about the