At eight in the evening, the gale shifted to the W., without abating the least in violence, and by raising a sudden swell, in a contrary direction to that which prevailed before, occasioned the ships to strain and labour exceedingly.  During the storm, several of the sails were split on board the Resolution.  Indeed they had been so long bent, and were worn so thin, that this accident had of late happened to us almost daily, in both ships; especially when, being stiff and heavy with the rain, they became less able to bear the shocks of the violent and variable winds we at this time experienced.  The gale at length growing moderate, and settling to the W., we kept upon a wind to the southward; and, at nine in the morning of the 30th, we saw the land, at the distance of about fifteen leagues, bearing from W. by N. to N.W. 1/4 W. It appeared in detached parts; but whether they were small islands, or parts of Japan, our distance did not enable us to determine.  At noon, it extended from N.W. to W., the nearest land being about thirteen leagues distant, beyond which the coast seemed to run in a westerly direction.  The latitude, by observation, was 36 deg. 41’, longitude 142 deg. 6’.  The point to the northward, which was supposed to be near the southernmost land seen the day before, we conjectured to be Cape de Kennis, and the break to the southward of this point, to be the mouth of the river on which the town of Gissima is said to be situated.  The next cape is probably that called in the Dutch charts Boomtje’s Point; and the southernmost, off which we were abreast at noon, we suppose to be near Low Point,[100] and that we were at too great distance to see the low land, in which it probably terminates, to the eastward.

In the afternoon, the wind veering round to the N.E., we stood to the southward, at the distance of about eighteen leagues from the shore, trying for soundings as we went along, but finding none with one hundred and fifteen fathoms of line.  At two the next morning, it shifted to W., attended with rain and lightning, and blowing in heavy squalls.  During the course of the day, we had several small birds of a brown plumage, resembling linnets, flying about us, which had been forced off the land by the strong westerly gales; but toward the evening, the wind coming to the N.W., we shaped our coarse, along with them, to W.S.W., in order to regain the coast.  In the morning of the 1st of November, the wind again shifted to S.E., and bringing with it fair weather, we got forty-two sets of distances of the moon from the sun and stars, with four different quadrants, each set consisting of six observations; these agreeing pretty nearly with each other, fix our situation at noon the same day, with great accuracy, in longitude 141 deg. 32’; the latitude, by observation, was 35 deg. 17’, We found an error of latitude, in our reckonings of the preceding day, of eight miles, and in this day’s of seventeen; from whence, and from our being much more to the eastward than we expected, we concluded, that there had been a strong current from the S.W.