In the afternoon of the 4th we had a gentle breeze at S. E. and clear weather, but as I did not intend to sail till the morning, I sent all the boats to the reef, to get what turtle and shell-fish they could. At low water I went up to the mast-head, and took a view of the shoals, which made a very threatening appearance: I could see several at a remote distance, and part of many of them was above water. The sea appeared most open to the north-east of the turtle reef, and I came to a resolution to stretch out that way close upon a wind, because if we should find no passage, we could always return the way we went. In the evening the boats brought in a turtle, a sting-ray, and as many large cockles as came to about a pound and a half a man, for in each of them there was not less than two pounds of meat: in the night also we caught several sharks, which, though not a dainty, were an acceptable increase of our fresh provision. In the morning I waited till half ebb before I weighed, because at that time the shoals begin to appear, but the wind then blew so hard that I was obliged to remain at anchor: in the afternoon, however, the gale becoming more moderate, we got under sail, and stood out upon a wind N. E. by E., leaving the turtle reef to windward, and having the pinnace sounding a-head. We had not kept this course long, before we discovered shoals before us, and upon both the bows; and at half an hour after four, having run about eight miles, the pinnace made the signal for shoal water, where we little expected it: upon this we tacked, and stood on and off, while the pinnace stretched farther to the eastward, and night approaching, I came to an anchor in twenty fathom water, with a muddy bottom. Endeavour River then bore S. 52 W.; Cape Bedford W. by N. ½ N., distant five leagues; the northernmost land in sight, which had the appearance of an island N.; and a shoal, a small sandy part of which appeared above water, bore N. E., distant between two and three miles: in standing off from turtle reef to this place, we had from fourteen to twenty fathom water, but when the pinnace was about a mile farther to the E. N. E. there was no more than four or five feet water, with rocky ground; and yet this did not appear to us in the ship. In the morning of the 6th we had a strong gale, so that instead of weighing, we were obliged to veer away more cable, and strike our top-gallant yards. At low water, myself, with several of the officers, kept a look-out at the mast-head, to see if any passage could be discovered between the shoals, but nothing was in view except breakers, extending from the S. round by the E. as far as N. W., and out to sea beyond the reach of our sight; these breakers, however, did not appear to be caused by one continued shoal, but by several which lay detached from each other: on that which lay farthest to the eastward the sea broke very high, which made me think it was the outermost, for upon many of these within, the breakers