Leaving Smelt Bay on the 8th December, they made sail for Port Desire, a boat going before to sound the depth of the channel, which was twelve and thirteen fathoms, so that they sailed in boldly, having a fair wind at N.E. After going in little more than a league, the wind began to veer about, and they cast anchor in twenty fathoms; but the ground, consisting entirely of slippery stones, and the wind now blowing strong at N.W. they drifted to the south shore, where both ships had nearly been wrecked. The Unity lay with her side to the cliffs, yet still kept afloat, and gradually slid down towards the deep water as the tide fell. But the Horn stuck fast aground, so that at last her keel was above a fathom out of the water, and a man might have walked under it at low water. For some time, the N.W. wind blowing hard on one side, kept her from falling over; but, that dying away, she at length fell over on her bends, when she was given over for lost; but next flood, coming on with calm weather, righted her again. Having escaped this imminent danger, both ships went farther up the river on the 9th, and came to King's Island, which they found full of black sea-mews, and almost entirely covered with their eggs; so that a man without moving from one spot might reach fifty or sixty nests with his hands, having three or four eggs in each. They here accordingly were amply provided with eggs, and laid in several thousands of them for sea store. The 11th the boats were sent down the river in search of fresh water, on the south side, but found it all brackish and unpleasant. They saw ostriches here, and a sort of beasts like harts, having wonderfully long necks, and extremely wild. Upon the high hills, they found great heaps of stones, under which some monstrous carcass had been buried, some of the bones being ten or eleven feet long, which, if having belonged to rational creatures, must have been the bones of giants.[105] They here had plenty of good fish and fowls, but no water could be found for some days. [Footnote 105: Giants indeed; for thigh bones of ten or eleven feet long, and these are the longest in the human body, would argue men of _thirty-one feet high_!--E.] On the 17th December, the Unity was laid ashore on King's island, in order to clean her bottom, and next day the Horn was hauled on shore for the same purpose, but providentially at the distance of about 200 yards from her consort: For, on the 19th, while burning a fire of dry reeds under the Horn, which was necessary for the object in view, the flame caught hold of the ship, and they were forced to see her burn without being able to do any thing to extinguish the fire, as they were at least fifty feet from the water side. They launched the Unity at high water on the 20th, and next day carried on board all the iron-work, anchors, cannon, and whatever else they had been able to save belonging to the Horn.