[Footnote 158:  Purchas makes the following remark in a side-note:—­“Mr Hakluyt’s book was here of good profit; for, as Sir Thomas Smith affirmed to me, it now saved L20,000 to the company, which they had been endamaged if the ships had returned home; which had certainly been the case if that book had not been consulted.”]

On the morning of the 4th August, we saw many flowers, a strong sign of approaching land, and towards evening had ground in from 20 to 16 fathoms, yet saw no land.  By means of our skiff, I set the current to the S.E. at the rate of two miles each watch.  The 5th we steered all morning eastwards, and E. By S. having from 30 to 20 and 10 fathoms, and still no land to be seen.  The greatest depth was on an oose bottom, the least a coarse yellow sand.  About nine o’clock we espied land, bearing N.E. about 8 leagues distant, being a round hummock of middling height.  By noon we were in latitude 7 deg. 56’ N. having steered all day east, sometimes half a point north or south, as our water deepened or shoaled, for we would sometimes have ten fathoms or more one cast, and the next seven fathoms, the ground being full of pits, believing that we were upon the edge of the shoals of Santa Anna, otherwise called Madera bomba.  In the afternoon we had 9, 10, 11, and 12 fathoms.  The first-seen land proved to be Ilha Verde, a very round land, and a very notable mark for any ship bound for Sierra Leona from the southwards.

About seven p.m. we anchored in 20 fathoms on hard sand, the south part of Ilha Verde, bearing E. and the Cape of Sierra Leona, which is a low point, N. by E. about eight leagues distant.  But the land over the cape is very high, and may be seen fifteen leagues off in clear weather.  About six next morning we made sail for the road, and had not less than 16, 15, 10, and 9 fathoms, till we ranged north and south with the rocks which lie about 1-1/2 miles west of Cape Sierra Leona; and when one mile from the nearest shore we had seven fathoms, good shoaling between us and the rock.  Immediately when past the rock we had 20 fathoms, and shoaled to 18, 16, 12, and 10 fathoms all the way into the roads, keeping very near the south shore; for a sand lies about two miles from the north shore, or a league from the south shore, and upon it the sea continually breaks.  We came to anchor in ten fathoms on good ground, the point of Sierra Leona bearing W. by N. the north point of the bay N. by W. and the sand or breaker N.N.E.

In the afternoon we were waved by some men on shore, to whom I sent my boat, which, leaving two hostages, brought off four negroes, who promised us refreshments.  My skiff sounded between our anchorage and the breakers, finding fair shoaling, with two fathoms water within two boats length of the breach, or sand on which the sea breaks.  All the previous observations of the variation, since our coming from 2 deg.  N. latitude to this place, proved erroneous; for to each