ny we had seen before; their whole plumage was white,
and they had two long feathers in the tail. The variation now had
changed its direction, and was 19' W.

On the 26th we saw two large birds about the ship, which were all black,
except the neck and the beak, which were white; they had long wings, and
long feathers in their tails, yet we observed that they flew heavily,
and therefore imagined that they were of a species which did not usually
fly far from the shore. I had flattered myself, that, before we had run
six degrees to the northward of Masafuero, we should have found a
settled trade-wind to the S.E. but the winds still continued to the
north, though we had a mountainous swell, from the S.W. Our latitude was
now 16 deg. 55' S. longitude 127 deg. 55' W. and here the needle, at this time,
had no variation.

On the 28th we saw two fine large birds about the ship, one of which was
brown and white, and the other black and white; they wanted much to
settle upon the yards, but the working of the ship frighted them.

On the 31st the wind shifted from N. by W. to N.W. by W. and the number
of birds that were now about the ship was very great; from these
circumstances, and our having lost the great south-west swell, I
imagined some land to be near, and we looked out for it with great
diligence, for our people began now to fall down with the scurvy very
fast.

We saw no land, however, till one o'clock in the morning of Friday the
7th of June, when we were in latitude 14 deg. 5' S. longitude 144 deg. 58' W.
and observed the variation to be 4 deg. 30' E. After making the land, I
hauled upon a wind under an easy sail till the morning, and then a low
small island bore from us W.S.W. at the distance of about two leagues.
In a very short time we saw another island to windward of us, bearing
E.S.E. distant between three and four leagues: This appeared to be much
larger than that which we first discovered, and we must have passed very
near it in the night.

I stood for the small island, which, as we drew near it, had a most
beautiful appearance; it was surrounded by a beach of the finest white
sand, and within, it was covered with tall trees, which extended their
shade to a great distance, and formed the most delightful groves that
can be imagined, without underwood. We judged this island to be about
five miles in circumference, and from each end of it we saw a spit
running out into the sea, upon which the surge broke with gr