beating
against the rock with great force, and we were surrounded by many
hundred canoes, full of men; they did not, however, attempt to come on
board us, but seemed to wait in expectation of our shipwreck. In the
anxiety and terror of such a situation we continued near an hour,
without being able to do any thing for our deliverance, except staving
some water-casks in the fore-hold, when a breeze happily springing up
from the shore, the ship's head swung off. We immediately pressed her
with all the sail we could make; upon which she began to move, and was
very soon once more in deep water.

We now stood off, and the boats being sent to leeward, found that the
reef ran down to the westward about a mile and a half, and that beyond
it there was a very good harbour. The master, after having placed a boat
at the end of the reef, and furnished the long-boat with anchor and
hausers, and a guard to defend her from an attack of the Indians, came
on board, and piloted the ship round the reef into the harbour, where,
about twelve o'clock, she came to an anchor in seventeen fathom water,
with a fine bottom of black sand.

The place where the ship struck appeared, upon farther examination, to
be a reef of sharp coral rock, with very unequal soundings, from six
fathom to two; and it happened unfortunately to lie between the two
boats that were placed as a direction to the ship, the weathermost boat
having twelve fathom, and the leewardmost nine. The wind freshened
almost as soon as we got off, and though it soon became calm again, the
surf ran so high, and broke with such violence upon the rock, that if
the ship had continued fast half an hour longer, she must inevitably
have been beaten to pieces. Upon examining her bottom, we could not
discover that she had received any damage, except that a small piece was
beaten off the bottom of her rudder. She did not appear to admit any
water, but the trussel-trees, at the head of all the masts, were broken
short, which we supposed to have happened while she was beating against
the rock. Our boats lost their grapplings upon the reef, but as we had
reason to hope that the ship was sound, they gave us very little
concern. As soon as the ship was secured, I sent the master, with all
the boats manned and armed, to sound the upper part of the bay, that if
he found good anchorage we might warp the ship up within the reef, and
anchor her in safety. The weather was now very pleasant, a great number