We had moreover farther reason to believe this to be the case, from the circumstance, that from this land to the south-east there lay a low island on which grew high pine-trees; from which circumstance, we considered it to be the Isle of Pines; and being unable, as I have already observed, to weather it, we bore away, intending to run along the western coast of New Caledonia:  this mistake had nearly proved of fatal consequences to us, for after we had coasted along for a few leagues, and had been employed in taking angles for ascertaining the shape of the coast, as we sailed along it, land was discovered a-head; upon which the course was altered:  soon afterwards, more land was seen still a-head, and as we hauled up to avoid it, more land and broken keys or low islands were discovered a-head, and as far to windward as the eye could reach; we consequently hauled our wind, and stood towards it, in order to discover our situation with more certainty.

We soon found that we had sailed into a very deep bay, formed between the Isle of Pines to the eastward, and a most dangerous reef on the west, which extended from the high land or south-west point of New Caledonia, not less than ten or eleven leagues, and was nearly that distance in a south-west direction from the high part of the Isle of Pines:  in this situation there was no alternative; for we must either beat to windward to go round the reef, find a channel through it, or go on shore:  the first, therefore, we determined to attempt, so we made all the sail the ship could bear, and stood towards the reef, and it being then evening we wished to ascertain our exact situation before dark.

We found the reef composed of a number of low islands or keys, and many rocks above the water, and of considerable breadth; in short, there was not the smallest hope of passing through it, the sea broke very high on every part of it, which we could reach with the eye from the mast-head.  As soon as it was dark, and we thought ourselves near enough to it, we tacked, and kept every person upon deck during the night.  We had, during the time we were running to leeward and making observations on the coast, passed by a number of low islands, covered with trees or shrubs, and had observed they were all surrounded with a reef, which the sea broke upon, and among these little islands were many reefs, which appeared only by the breaking of the sea:  we were then thoroughly sensible of our mistake, and that the land which we had taken from its extent to be a part of New Caledonia, was the Isle of Pines; and that the height which we had steered down for, and thought to be a part of the coast which Captain Cook had not seen, was what he called the Prince of Wales’s Foreland, and was the farthest land he had seen to the westward.