The wind fell after passing round the Cape, and was so light during the afternoon that we made no progress, and were obliged to anchor at about three or four miles to the eastward of the Cape.  At nine o’clock the wind freshened with the flood-tide, which raised a heavy swell in which the cutter rode very uneasily.

February 11.

And, in the morning, when we attempted to weigh the anchor, the cable parted, having been cut by rocks.  Owing to the bad construction of the buoy, it did not watch; and, as the tide quickly swept us from the place, we had no chance left of recovering the anchor.  As the sun rose the wind gradually fell; and, at noon, we were no farther advanced than a mile and a half to the southward of the north east trend of the Cape.  Here the coast is low and sandy, and is of shoal approach.  A small clump of mangrove-trees on the beach was the first sign of vegetation that we had seen; and, from the absence of verdure hereabout, is a conspicuous object.  The thermometer stood at 89 degrees.  The ebb tide then commenced and drifted us out near our last night’s anchoring ground, and the evening was spent, without success, in searching for our lost anchor.  At sunset a fresh breeze set in from the South-West, and fearing a repetition of our loss, we continued under sail during the night, which was past with great anxiety; and not without reason.

February 12.

For when the day broke, we found ourselves within one mile of the reef off the South-West end of the island in the north east (which proved to be Captain Baudin’s Muiron Island), and drifting towards it so rapidly, that in less than half an hour the vessel would have been thrown upon the rocks.  Standing to the eastward we discovered the three sandy islets—­h, i, and k; and at noon, we were near two other sandy islets, y, and z, which appeared to be the north-westernmost of a group of low, sandy, or rocky islets, extending to the South-East, beyond the limits of our masthead view.  The islets, y and z, are of circular shape, and not more than a quarter of a mile in diameter; they are so low as not to be visible from our deck at a greater distance than seven miles.  Their summits are crowned with a slight shrubby vegetation, the bright verdure of which, separated from the dark blue colour of the sea by their glittering sandy beaches, formed a pleasing contrast to the dull, monotonous appearance of the mainland.  These islets are in fact only the dry parts of a shoal, on which the sand has accumulated, and formed a soil to receive and nourish the seeds of plants, which have either been drifted on shore by the tide, or been brought by birds from the continent.

At sunset we anchored under the land, but soon afterwards the wind blew so fresh, that the fluke of our anchor broke, and we were obliged to drop another; which was the last we possessed, besides a small stream anchor that was too light to use, excepting in a calm.