We continued our course the next day with a pleasant gale and fine weather, so that we began to think that this part of the world was not wholly without a summer.  On the 7th, I found myself much farther to the northward than I expected, and therefore supposed the ship’s way had been influenced by a current.  I had now made eighty degrees easting, which is the distance from the main at which Pepys’ Island is placed in Halley’s chart, but unhappily we have no certain account of the place.  The only person who pretends to have seen it, is Cowley,[15] the account of whose voyage is now before me; and all he says of its situation is, that it lies in latitude 47 deg.S.; for he says nothing of its longitude:  He says, indeed, that it has a fine harbour; but he adds, that the wind blew so hard he could not get into it, and that he therefore stood away to the southward.  At this time I also was steering southward; for the weather being extremely fine, I could see very far to the northward of the situation in which it is laid down.  As I supposed it must lie to the eastward of us, if indeed it had any existence, I made the Tamar signal to spread early in the afternoon; and as the weather continued to be very clear, we could see, between us, at least twenty leagues.  We steered S.E. by the compass, and at night brought-to, being, by my account, in latitude 47 deg.18’S.  The next morning it blew very hard at N.W. by N. and I still thought the island might lie to the eastward; I therefore intended to stand about thirty leagues that way, and if I found no island, to return into the latitude of 47 deg. again.  But a hard gale coming on, with a great sea, I brought-to about six o’clock in the evening under the main-sail; and at six o’clock the next morning, the wind being at W.S.W. we made sail again under our courses to the northward.  I now judged myself to be about sixteen leagues to the eastward of the track I had run before:  Port Desire bore S.80 deg.53’W. distant ninety-four leagues; and in this situation I saw a great quantity of rock-weed, and many birds.  We continued to stand to the northward the next day under our courses, with a hard gale from S.W. to N.W. and a great sea.  At night, being in latitude 46 deg. 50’ S. I wore ship, and stood in to the westward again, our ships having spread every day as far as they could be seen by each other:  And on the 11th at noon, being now certain that there could be no such island as is mentioned by Cowley, and laid down by Halley under the name of Pepys’ Island, I resolved to stand in for the main, and take in wood and water, of which both ships were in great want, at the first convenient place I could find, especially as the season was advancing very fast, and we had no time to lose.  From this time we continued to haul in for the land as the winds would permit, and kept a look-out for the islands of Sebald de Wert,[16] which, by all the charts we had on board, could not be far from our track:  A great number of birds