Page:Early voyages to Terra Australis.djvu/307

 dampier's voyages. 151

21° 42'. The 20tli, we were in latitude 19° 37', and kept close on a wind to get sight of the land again, but could not get to see it. We had very fair weather ; and tho' we were so far from the land as to be out of sight of it, yet we had the sea and land-breezes. In the night we had the land-breeze at S. S. E. a small gentle gale ; which in the morning about sun-rising would shift about gradually (and withal increasing in strength), till about noon Ave should have it at E. S. E. which is the true sca-brecze here. Then it would blow a brisk gale, so that we could scarce carry our top-sails double rift ; and it would continue thus to three in the afternoon, when it would decrease again. The weather was fair all the while, not a cloud to be seen ; but very hazy, especially nigh the horizon. We sounded several times this 20th day, and at first had no ground ; but had afterwards from fifty- two to forty-five fathom, coarse brown sand, mixt with small brown and white stones, with dints besides in the tallow.

The 21st day, also, we had small land-breezes in the night, and sea-breezes in the day : and as we saw some sea- snakes every day, so this day we saw a great many, of two different sorts or shapes. One sort was yellovv^, and about the bigness of a man's wrist, about four foot long, having a flat tail about four fingers broad. The other sort v/as much smaller and shorter, round and spotted, black and yellow. This day we sounded several times, and had forty-five fathom, sand. We did not make the land till noon, and then saw it first from our top-mast head. It bore S. E. by E. about nine leagues distance, and it appeared like a cape or head of land. The sea-breeze this day was not so strong as the day before, and it veered out more; so that we had a fair wind to run in with to the shore, and at sunset anchored in twenty fathom, clean sand, about five leagues from the bluff point; which was not a cape (as it appear'd at a great distance, but the eastermost end of an island, about) five or six leagues in length and one in breadth. There were three