About day-break on the 26th, the wind having shifted to S.S.W., we stretched to S.E. for the hill before mentioned.  It belonged to an island which at noon extended from S. 16 deg.  E. to S. 7 deg.  W., distant six leagues.  Latitude observed 22 deg. 16’ S. In the p.m. the wind freshened, and veering to S.S.E., we stretched to the east, till two a.m., on the 27th, when we tacked and stood to S.W., with hopes of weathering the island; but we fell about two miles short of our expectations, and had to tack about a mile from the east side of the island, the extremes bearing from N.W. by N. to S.W., the hill W., and some low isles, lying off the S.E. point, S. by W. These seemed to be connected with the large island by breakers.  We sounded when in stays, but had no ground with a line of eighty fathoms.  The skirts of this island were covered with the elevations more than once mentioned.  They had much the appearance of tall pines, which occasioned my giving that name to the island.  The round hill, which is on the S.W. side, is of such a height as to be seen fourteen or sixteen leagues.  The island is about a mile in circuit, and situated in latitude 22 deg. 38’ S., longitude 167 deg. 40’ E. Having made two attempts to weather the Isle of Pines before sun-set, with no better success, than before, this determined me to stretch off till midnight.  This day at noon the thermometer was at 68 deg. 3/4 which is lower than it had been since the 27th of February.

Having tacked at midnight, assisted by the currents and a fresh gale at E. S.E. and S.E., next morning at day-break we found ourselves several leagues to windward of the Isle of Pines, and bore away large, round the S.E. and S. sides.  The coast from the S.E., round by the S. to the W., was strewed with sand-banks, breakers, and small low isles, most of which were covered with the same lofty trees that ornamented the borders of the greater one.  We continued to range the outside of these small isles and breakers, at three-fourths of a league distance, and as we passed one, raised another, so that they seemed to form a chain extending to the isles which lie off the foreland.  At noon we observed, in latitude 22 deg. 44’ 36” S. the Isle of Pines extending from N by E 1/2 E. to E. by N.; and Cape Coronation N. 32 deg. 30’ W distant seventeen leagues.  In the afternoon, with a fine gale at east, we steered N.W. by W., along the outside of the shoals, with a view of falling in with the land a little to S.W. of the foreland.  At two o’clock p.m. two low islets were seen bearing W. by S., and as they were connected by breakers, which seemed to join those on our starboard, this discovery made it necessary to haul off S.W., in order to get clear of them all.  At three, more breakers appeared, extending from the low isles towards the S.E.  We now hauled out close to the wind, and, in an hour and a half, were almost on board the breakers, and obliged to tack.  From the mast-head they were seen to extend as far