On The 8th Of March We Saw Some Smoke On The Main, Being Distant From It Four Or Five Leagues.

It is very high, woody land, with some spots of savannah.

About ten in the morning six or seven canoes came off to us. Most of them had no more than one man in them. They were all black, with short curled hair, having the same ornaments in their noses, and their heads so shaved and painted, and speaking the same words as the inhabitants of Cave's Island before mentioned.

There was a headland to the southward of us, beyond which, seeing no land, I supposed that from thence the land trends away more westerly. This headland lies in the latitude of 5 degrees 2 minutes south, and meridian distance from Cape Mabo 1,290 miles. In the night we lay by, for fear of overshooting this headland, between which and Cape St. Manes the land is high, mountainous and woody, having many points of land shooting out into the sea, which make so many fine bays; the coast lies north-north-east and south-south- west.

The 9th, in the morning a huge black man came off to us in a canoe, but would not come aboard. He made the same signs of friendship to us as the rest we had met with; yet seemed to differ in his language, not using any of those words which the others did. We saw neither smoke nor plantations near this headland. We found here variation 1 degree east.

In the afternoon, as we plied near the shore, three canoes came off to us; one had four men in her, the others two apiece. That with the four men came pretty nigh us, and showed us a cocoa-nut and water in a bamboo, making signs that there was enough ashore where they lived; they pointed to the place where they would have us go, and so went away. We saw a small round pretty high island about a league to the north of this headland, within which there was a large deep bay, whither the canoes went; and we strove to get thither before night, but could not; wherefore we stood off, and saw land to the westward of this headland, bearing west-by-south-half-south distance about ten leagues, and, as we thought, still more land bearing south-west-by-south, distance twelve or fourteen leagues, but being clouded, it disappeared, and we thought we had been deceived. Before night we opened the headland fair, and I named it Cape St. George. The land from hence trends away west-north-west about ten leagues, which is as far as we could see it; and the land that we saw to the westward of it in the evening, which bore west- by-south-half-south, was another point about ten leagues from Cape St. George; between which there runs in a deep bay for twenty leagues or more. We saw some high land in spots like islands, down in that bay at a great distance; but whether they are islands, or the main closing there we know not.

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