On the morning of the 3d January 1556, we fell in with Cape Three-points, having passed during the night one of the Portuguese castles, which is 8 leagues west from this point[242].  This is a very high land all grown over with trees, and on coming nearer we perceived three head-lands, having a kind of two bays between them, which open directly westwards.  The farthest out to sea is the eastern cape.  The middle cape is not above a league from the western cape, though the chart we had laid them down as 3 leagues asunder.  Right before the point of the middle cape there is a small rock near it, which cannot be seen from the cape itself, except one be near the shore, and on the top of this cape there is a great tuft of trees.  When abreast of this cape there is seen close beside it a round green hummock rising from the main-land.  The eastern cape is about a league from the middle one, and is high land like the other two, and between these there is a little head or point of land, and several rocks close in shore.  About 8 leagues before we came to cape Three-points the coast trends S.E. by E., and after passing the cape it runs N.E. by E. About two leagues after passing Cape Three-points there is a low glade for about two miles in length, after which the land becomes again high, with several successive points or headlands, the first of which has several rocks out to sea.  The middle of the three capes runs farthest out to sea southwards, so that it can be seen a great way off from the coast, when it appears to rise with two small rocks.  We ran this day 8 leagues, and anchored before night, lest we might overshoot a town named St Johns[243].  In the afternoon a boat with five men came off from the shore and ranged alongside of us, as if looking at our flags, but would not come near, and after looking at us for some time went back to the land.  In the morning of the 4th, while sailing along the coast, we espied a ledge of rocks close to the shore, to the westwards of which were two green hills joining together, with a hollow between them resembling a saddle; and, as the master thought the town we were looking for stood within these rocks, we manned our boats, taking with us a quantity of cloth and other goods, with which we rowed on shore; but after going some way along the shore without finding any town, we returned again on board.  About two leagues to the eastwards from the two saddle hills, a ledge of rocks stretches almost two miles out to sea, beyond which is a great bay running N.N.W. while the general stretch of the coast at this place is from S.W. by W. to N.E. by E. Having with a gentle gale run past that uttermost headland, we saw a great red cliff, which the master again judged to be near the town of St Johns, on which we again took our boat and merchandise and rowed to the shore.  We actually found a town on the top of a hill to which we directed our course, and on seeing us a considerable number of the inhabitants collected together and waved a