Next Day, The 18th, The Wind Turned Against Us With Such Fury That We
Were Forced Back To Cape Royal; And, Sending The Boats To Look For A
Harbour, We Found A Great Deep Gulf Above The Low Islands, Having
Certain Other Islands Within It.
This gulf is shut up on the south, and
the low islands are on one side of the entrance, stretching out above
half a league to seawards; it is in lat.
48 deg. 30' N. having an island in
the middle of the entrance. The country about is all flat, but barren.
Finding we could not get into any harbour that night, we stood out to
sea, leaving Cape Royal towards the west. From that time to the 24th of
the month, being St Johns Day, we had such stormy weather, with contrary
winds and such dark mists, that we could not see the land; but on that
day we got sight of a cape, about 35 leagues S.W. from Cape Royal, which
we named Cape St John. On that day and the next the weather still
continued so foggy and dark, with wind, that we could not come near the
land; yet we sailed part of the 25th to the W.N.W. and lay too in the
evening, about 7-1/2 leagues N.W. and by W. of Cape St John. When about
to make sail, the wind changed to the N.W. and we accordingly sailed
S.E. After proceeding about 15 leagues in that direction, we came to
three islands, two of which are as steep and upright as a wall, so that
it is impossible to climb them, and a small rock lies between them.
These islands were closely covered over with birds, which breed upon
them; and in the largest there was a prodigious number of those white
birds we named Margaulx, larger than geese.
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