In the evening, finding, as I apprehended, the ship setting fast to the westward, we hauled up to the eastward, in order to keep as near the Cape as possible, until day-light. That night also we had little wind, and that was variable; we kept her head as much as possible to the eastward, and at eight in the morning the Cape bore north 16 deg. 00' east, distant eleven or twelve miles; which was much farther off than I wished; at the same time, a projecting point on the coast of New-Britain bore west north-west: we were becalmed most of this day, and were still setting to the westward. In the afternoon of the 22d, a very light breeze sprung up from the eastward, with which we endeavoured to get within Wallis's island; we sounded frequently, but had no ground with 130 fathoms of line: this situation was truly distressing, for although we had every thing set, we could not force the ship more than a knot and a half through the water, and had the mortification to see that we were driving to the westward: about two o'clock the breeze freshened up a little, and although we were within three miles of anchorage in Gower's harbour, we saw plainly we could not fetch it; however I had hope, as Carteret's harbour is laid down in the chart four leagues to leeward of it, that we might with ease get in there; we had a boat in shore at this time sounding, and it was the general opinion, that unless we bore away soon, we should not run the distance before dark, we therefore made the signal for the boat, and bore away. The northermost point in sight from the ship was, according to the sketch made in the Swallow, Point Carteret; we considered the north-west entrance as near to that point, but intended of course to avail ourselves of being to windward to go in at the southermost passage. The distance, as I have already mentioned, being marked four leagues from Wallis's Island to Carteret harbour, unfortunately deceived us; and Cocoa-nut island being low, when compared with the high land under which it lies, appeared like a low point projecting from it: we were past the south entrance of this harbour, before we thought ourselves within six miles of it, and had now a strong south-east wind, which two hours sooner, would have enabled us to have got into English Cove, in Gower harbour: the distance from harbour to harbour did not appear to me to be more than two leagues, if so much. It was our misfortune, that the distances marked in the sketch just mentioned, did not agree with our judgment of them.