n you
have passed the reef. We continued on until we reached the westerly
point of the island of Nantoeket, along which we sailed to the
easterly point, and thence due north until noon; but the flood tide
running in strong, and the vessel not being well steered, we were
carried to the west among the shoals. The weather was rather rough and
the atmosphere hazy, so that we could not see far. The shoals were
ahead of us, and we had only two fathoms, and even less, of water. The
captain and helmsman were confused, and hardly knew where they were.
This happened two or three times. In order to avoid the shoals, we had
to keep to the east. We were fearful we should strike upon them, and
it was therefore best to look out and keep free of them. About three
o'clock we caught sight of the main land of Cape Cod, to which we
sailed northerly. We arrived inside the cape about six o'clock, with a
tolerable breeze from the west, and at the same time saw vessels to
the leeward of us which had an east wind, from which circumstance we
supposed we were in a whirlwind. These two contrary winds striking
against each other, the sky became dark, and they whirled by each
other, sometimes the one, and sometimes the other being strongest,
compelling us to lower the sails several times. I have never seen such
a twisting and turning round in the air as at this time, the clouds
being driven against each other, and close to the earth. At last it
became calm and began to rain very hard, and to thunder and lighten
heavily. We drifted along the whole night in a calm, advancing only
twelve or sixteen miles.

_23d, Sunday._ A breeze blew up from the northeast. It was fortunate
for us that we arrived inside of Cape Cod yesterday evening, before
this unfavorable weather, as we should otherwise have been compelled
to put back to Rhode Island. We could now still proceed; and we laid
our course northwest to Boston. We arrived at the entrance of the
harbor at noon, where we found a considerable rolling sea caused by
the ebb tide and wind being against each other. There are about thirty
islands here, not large ones, through which we sailed, and reached
Boston at four o'clock in the afternoon, our captain running with his
yacht quite up to his house in the Milk-ditch.[402]

[Footnote 402: This seems to mean the creek which made in from the
cove at the foot of Milk Street.]

The Lord be praised, who has continued in such a fatherly manner to
conduct us, and gi