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.
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