This afternoon our ship became very leaky, having suddenly four and a half feet water in the hold, which kept both pumps going a long while before we could free her.  Towards evening, it pleased God that we discovered three or four great leaks between wind and water; and after our carpenters had stopped them, we had great comfort, as we could then let the pumps stop half an hour, and afterwards free the ship in a quarter of an hour.  From this day, the 21st, at noon, till noon of the 22d, we made five leagues S.S.W. with a pair of courses, and nine leagues S.W. by W. a-hull, having twenty-seven and a half f. in ooze.  In the afternoon of the 22d, the violence of the wind and waves began to abate, and our ship became tighter, which plainly shewed that most of our leaks were between wind and water, wherefore, on the first fair weather, I caused our carpenters to search the ship’s sides, where they found and stopped many bad places, some a yard long, where the oakum was all rotten in the seams.

The 24th, we had sight of a great island to the N. about seven leagues off; having a high hill on its southern end, being the island formerly mentioned as about fifteen leagues W. from Saddle island.  From thence, till the evening of the 26th, our course was S. by W. twenty-four leagues, the depths increasing from nineteen to thirty-six f. on ooze.  We had here a small round island S.W. by N. two leagues off, nearly in latitude 20 deg. 20’ N.[282] This island has four small islands on its S.W. side, but all of them considerably lower, for we saw this from the distance of at least ten leagues, rising in the shape of a Chinese hat.  From hence, till noon of the 27th, our course was E. by N. two-thirds N. twelve leagues.  This morning at two o’clock the wind veered round to S.S.E. and at noon was due S. From noon of the 27th, to noon of the 28th, we stood E.N.E. eighteen leagues, and had then almost forty-one f. on ooze.  Till noon of the 29th, we made other eighteen leagues E.N.E. when we were in 21 deg. 10’ N. To the 30th, at noon, other eighteen leagues E.N.E.  To noon of 1st July, our course was E.N.E. 1/2 N. twenty-two leagues, our latitude being then 22 deg. 10’ N. Here, from the topmast-head we saw land N.N.W. 1/2 N. From noon this day, till seven p.m. we sailed N.E. by N. six leagues.  At six this evening we saw three Chinese fishing-boats.

[Footnote 282:  There must be a material error here, as the latitude in the text would carry us back to the peninsula to the north of Hainan, more than two degrees of longitude backwards.  Indeed, the text seems corrupted in many respects, even the bearings being extremely suspicious.—­E.]