discovered some low land, which appeared like an island, bearing S. ½ W. We continued our course to the W. by S., and in two hours we saw high land over the low land, extending to the southward as far as S. W. by S.; but did not appear to be joined to the land to the northward, so that there is either water, a deep bay, or low land between them. At noon on the 6th, we were nearly in the same situation as at noon on the day before: in the afternoon we found the variation, by several azimuths and the amplitude, to be 15° 10ʹ E. On the 7th at noon, we were in latitude 47° 6ʹ S., and had made twelve miles easting during the last twenty-four hours. We stood to the westward the remainder of this day, and all the next till sunset, when the extremes of the land bore from N. by E. to W. distant about seven or eight leagues: in this situation our depth of water was fifty-five fathom, and the variation by amplitude 16° 29ʹ E. The wind now veered from the N. to the W., and as we had fine weather, and moonlight, we kept standing close upon the wind to the S. W. all night. At four in the morning, we had sixty fathom water; and at daylight we discovered under our bow a ledge of rocks, extending from S. by W. to W. by S. upon which the sea broke very high: they were not more than three quarters of a mile distant, yet we had five-and-forty fathom water. As the wind was at N. W. we could not now weather them, and as I was unwilling to run to leeward, I tacked and made a trip to the eastward; the wind however soon after coming to the northward, enabled us to get clear of all. Our soundings, while we were passing within the ledge, were from thirty-five to forty-seven fathom, with a rocky bottom.