On the morning of the 16th we saw two very remarkable birds; they flew very high, were as large as geese, and all over as white as snow, except their legs, which were black:  I now began to imagine that I had passed some land, or islands, which lay to the southward of us, for the last night we observed, that, although we had generally a great swell from that quarter, the water became quite smooth for a few hours, after which the swell returned.

On the 22d, being in latitude 20 deg. 52’ S. longitude 115 deg. 38’ W. with a faint breeze at E.S.E. we had so great a swell from the southward, that we were in perpetual danger of our masts rolling over the ship’s side, so that I was obliged to haul more to the northward, as well to ease the ship, as in hopes of getting the true trade-wind, which we had not yet; and now, to my great concern, some of my best men began to complain of the scurvy.  This day, for the first time, we caught two bonnettas; we also saw several tropic birds about the ship, and observed that they were larger than any we had seen before; their whole plumage was white, and they had two long feathers in the tail.  The variation now had changed its direction, and was 19’ W.

On the 26th we saw two large birds about the ship, which were all black, except the neck and the beak, which were white; they had long wings, and long feathers in their tails, yet we observed that they flew heavily, and therefore imagined that they were of a species which did not usually fly far from the shore.  I had flattered myself, that, before we had run six degrees to the northward of Masafuero, we should have found a settled trade-wind to the S.E. but the winds still continued to the north, though we had a mountainous swell, from the S.W.  Our latitude was now 16 deg. 55’ S. longitude 127 deg. 55’ W. and here the needle, at this time, had no variation.

On the 28th we saw two fine large birds about the ship, one of which was brown and white, and the other black and white; they wanted much to settle upon the yards, but the working of the ship frighted them.

On the 31st the wind shifted from N. by W. to N.W. by W. and the number of birds that were now about the ship was very great; from these circumstances, and our having lost the great south-west swell, I imagined some land to be near, and we looked out for it with great diligence, for our people began now to fall down with the scurvy very fast.

We saw no land, however, till one o’clock in the morning of Friday the 7th of June, when we were in latitude 14 deg. 5’ S. longitude 144 deg. 58’ W. and observed the variation to be 4 deg. 30’ E. After making the land, I hauled upon a wind under an easy sail till the morning, and then a low small island bore from us W.S.W. at the distance of about two leagues.  In a very short time we saw another island to windward of us, bearing E.S.E. distant between three and four leagues:  This appeared to be much larger than that which we first discovered, and we must have passed very near it in the night.